Bradford is seeking a “critical” extended water supply from Innisfil

A funding shortfall for city assets, a look at the proposed events strategy, the design of a new park and more are all on the agenda for Bradford West Gwillimbury’s regular council meeting, set for Tuesday at 7pm at the Public Library Bradford West Gwillimbury.

The funding deficit

Bradford is looking at a $3.5 million shortfall by 2024 when it comes to covering the anticipated costs of maintaining the city’s capital assets, such as roads and sewers.

This comes as part of a report by deputy treasurer Nathalie Carrier, based on the completed 2024 budget and business plan, which estimated future spending on asset replacement based on past trends.

Based on that, Carrier determined the total cost for 2024 would be about $19,928,770, but the city only budgeted $16,409,108 based on $1,290,989 transferred to reserves, $6,296,592 from user fees and $8,821,527 from the city’s special capital levies.

While the tax side actually shows a surplus of $233,809, a shortfall of $3,753,471 in user fees leaves an overall deficit of $3,519,662.

That paints a clearer picture of a scenario foreshadowed in the draft budget 2024 discussed by the council in January, and in his report on the matter at the time, chief financial officer and treasurer Ian Goodfellow said that without increasing the rate at which the special levy of capital increases, the capital replacement pool would be depleted by 2025.

The council created the special capital levy in 2013, set at 1 per cent and rising by 1 per cent a year, to help cover the city’s rising infrastructure costs. The tax is set at 11% for 2024.

In January, Goodfellow explained that a depleted capital replacement reserve would most likely delay some projects scheduled for 2025 or 2026 by a year or two.

“The reality is we’re going to have to review the capital program. If there is no more money coming in, we have to reduce the amount of money going out,” he said.

According to the Carrier report, the total municipal (including library) portion of taxes to be collected by the city increased to $28,294,178 in 2024 from $26,958,074 in 2023.

Originally, the property tax increase for 2024 was estimated at about 4.26 percent, but following more information from Simcoe County, it was later revised to 4.21 percent, or about $217 extra for the average home.

New event strategy proposed

Bradford aims to change the way it organizes public events, such as its annual Canada Day celebration and Carrot Fest.

That’s according to a report from recreation and client services manager Nick Warman, as well as a presentation to be given by Justin Rousseau of Expedition Management Consulting, which includes an outline of a new events strategy that focuses on six objectives :

1. Increasing human resources — Recommends the city hire three new positions: Community Event Facilitator, Event Marketing and Revenue Generation Specialist and Administrative Assistant
2. Encourage third-party delivery — recommends that the city outsource the operation of community events to third-party organizations “wherever possible”
3. Assess which events BWG will invest in — Determine if each event is achieving the intended results of the strategy and reduce, eliminate or expand programming as needed
4. Increasing municipal investment in event production —Suggests the city consider increasing its annual investment in events to keep up with rising costs
5. Increase event revenue — Suggests the city consider raising admissions, sales commissions and more to generate more event revenue
6. Improve assessment processes — Recommends that the City maintain ongoing evaluations of the return on investment in community events, including from a social, economic and environmental perspective.

This comes in response to an organizational structure that is “not sufficient” to cope with rising costs and increased expectations for community programming that have come with “rapid population growth” coupled with “blurred roles” for staff and a lack of resources and strategic planning. , according to the draft strategy.

“The current situation is not sustainable and, if left unchecked, there is a risk of staff burnout, low resident satisfaction or even greater risks to safety, infrastructure and the environment,” the strategy says.

Work on the strategy, including consultation, began last October and a final version of the strategy is expected to be presented to council this fall, according to Warman’s report.

New park design

During a recent meeting in May, the city’s strategic projects committee selected one of two designs for the future park on the east side of the property at the city’s community and social services center at 177 Church St.

The committee recommends that council ask staff to complete the cost estimate for Concept 1 for inclusion in the 2025 budget. Based on a May 2023 report by Community Services Director Terry Foran, the design for the just under 0.45 hectare site was estimated at $691,640 and includes:

• Playground with: area for toddlers and young children (ages 1-7), area for older children (ages 8+), a gazebo with accessible seating
• Benches and decorative seat wall for children’s viewing
• Trash cans
• Naturalized areas with tree plantations overlooking Rebecca and Queen Streets
• Hub Connections, Fred C. Cook Public School and Rebecca
• Parking with one accessible space

At $1,259,809, a second concept would have included everything in the first, plus a splash pad.

Exploring opportunities with Innisfil

Mahesh Ramdeo, the city’s new deputy chief administrative officer (CAO), is asking council to authorize staff to begin conversations with the city of Innisfil and the municipal water utility, InnServices, to retain and expand Bradford’s water supply.

This follows Innisfil council’s decision during the May 8 meeting to review the organizational structure of the city’s utilities.

“BWG is a rapidly growing municipality and the availability of a safe water source is essential for existing and future residents,” Ramdeo said in a report included in Tuesday’s agenda.

Bradford currently gets about 60 percent of its drinking water, about 2,197,087 cubic meters, from InnService and the Innisfil Lake Simcoe water filtration facility, an amount that has steadily increased since the municipalities entered into a sharing agreement of costs and allocation of water in September. 2003.

Officially appointed as deputy CAO during the April 16 board meeting, effective March 25, Ramdeo sees talks with Innisfil as a chance to “explore opportunities for cross-border service delivery collaboration”.

If approved, staff are expected to report on the discussions at a later date.