Major increases in a proposed education development charges plan are justified, said Bradford West Gwillimbury Deputy Mayor James Leduc.
In response to a meeting Tuesday night where politicians told local school boards North Simcoe County is being unfairly targeted by the plan, Leduc said he understands their frustrations but increases are just part of reality.
“The cost of land has quadrupled. It’s a natural response to the cost of land,” he said. “They haven’t reviewed the development charges at the board level for ... years. Because of the cost of land, they probably have to (make an increase).”
Mayors, councillors and developers took to the podium to air their concerns during a public meeting hosted by the Simcoe County District School Board and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board.
If the plan is approved as is, education development charges for new residential units would rise from $1,759 to $5,064. The fee for non-residential development, per square foot of gross floor area, would also increase, from 47 cents to $1.37. It will be the first increase since 2013.
While some were surprised by the proposed hike, most took issue with how it could be implemented.
Those increases would be the same for all municipalities in the county, regardless of their differences in population growth.
A uniform increase is a “flawed policy,” Orillia Coun. Ted Emond told trustees and officials from both boards during the meeting at the Simcoe County District School Board Education Centre.
While there is rapid growth in the southern part of the county, “the economy in Orillia pales in comparison,” Emond said.
He noted the population of Innisfil increased by 11.7 per cent from 2011 to 2016, while Orillia’s went up by 1.9 per cent.
“We respectfully request that you reconsider this policy,” Emond told the boards, asking them to base the development charges increase on each municipality’s projected growth.
However, Leduc said it is more fair for every municipality to be charged the same rate.
“Education is right across the county. It wouldn’t be fair for Bradford West Gwillimbury to pay more than anyone else in Simcoe County. It’s absolutely fair for everybody to pay that rate,” he said.
Growth is not new to Bradford — it was named the second-fastest growing community in Ontario last year — and so local politicians understand the challenges of population spikes and being lumped in with larger communities nearby.
“Bradford residents have suffered a while because of growth,” Leduc said. “(The County of Simcoe) didn’t want to give us a hand at the table when we were asking for (help.)”
Back at the meeting, a report by Watson and Associates identified the boards will require, based on enrolment forecasts, 57 “full or partial” schools over the next 15 years.
Few would be in north Simcoe County, and “non-growth areas like Tay should not be subsidizing” growth areas, Scott Warnock, that township’s mayor, told the boards.
He said if the plan is approved, his township will appeal the decision.
Orillia developer Angelo Orsi, the city’s former mayor, asked the boards to think of the homeowners.
“The developer’s only a piece of the puzzle,” said Orsi, of Charter Construction. “The homeowners must be respected at the end of the day.”
“It’s an additional cost that has to be passed on to the homeowner,” Orsi told OrilliaMatters during a break in the meeting.
Some developers asked for more time. The new education development charges bylaw could be approved at a June 5 meeting. If it is, it could come into effect as soon as June 11.
“Phase it in,” urged Dennis Bottero, of Orillia’s Landen Homes, saying the sharp increase is “a hard pill to swallow.”
That isn’t an option, Watson and Associates associate director Jack Ammendolia told the boards, as provincial legislation does not allow for the charges to be phased in.
The boards do have options, though. They could make exemptions for certain types of housing, including those geared toward seniors and low-income residents. If the boards have operating surpluses, they could decide to use some of that money to help defray the cost of development charges, which are used to purchase land to accommodate growth.
Also, they could choose to base the fees on individual municipalities’ growth, but if they do, Simcoe County will be going rogue. Others in Ontario that have implemented development charge increases have chosen to do so evenly across the board.
Almost everyone who addressed the boards gave them an earful about what they felt was a lack of notice about Tuesday night’s meeting.
Severn Township Mayor Mike Burkett said he learned of the meeting hours before it started.
Penetanguishene Deputy Mayor Anita Dubeau said her council learned of the meeting April 23 through correspondence from another municipality.
Consultants and representatives from the school boards met with developers and municipal building officials during a stakeholder session a couple of weeks ago. Only “a few” building officials were able to attend, Warnock said, due to inadequate notice and because it’s a busy time for development.
“We don’t consider this a meaningful attempt,” he said.
During the second of two public meetings Tuesday night — the first was to review the development charges policy, while the second focused on the proposed new bylaw — Jodi Lloyd, the public school board’s trustee for Orillia and Ramara, asked Ammendolia to respond to the those concerns.
Ammendolia said all requirements were met: making the background study available to the public two weeks in advance of the meeting and offering the minimum 20 days’ notice of the meeting.
The way that information was advertised wasn’t sufficient, according to Trustee Francis Smith, who represents Orillia, Oro-Medonte, Ramara and Severn at the Catholic board. He cited last fall’s closure of local newspapers and asked if Ammendolia had contacted any of the new online publications, which he noted are gaining in popularity.
Ammendolia said the meeting was advertised through the Toronto Star.
“I do not believe the Toronto Star would reach a large portion of the county,” Smith said.
“Point taken,” Ammendolia responded.
The next public meeting will take place June 5 at 6 p.m. at the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board office on Alliance Road in Barrie. It's possible the boards will approve the new bylaw that night.
- With files from Jenni Dunning
