Earlier today, the Ontario legislature passed Bill 189 (Coronavirus COVID19 Support and Protection Act which amended a number of laws including the Education Act, the Planning Act, the Development Charges Act along with the Police Services Act.
This will provide all levels of government the flexibility to adapt their own legislation to ever changing deadlines due to the declarations of emergency at both the provincial levels as well as here locally in Milton and Halton Region.
Through this new bill, the province has extended the provincial state of emergency until May 12th, with provisions available for further extensions if needed. This is an incredibly fluid situation with the numbers of COVID19 infections continue to rise which can lead to a longer period of time for the state of emergency.
I spoke with Milton MPP Parm Gill today before the vote (we recorded an interview segment for my weekly YourTV program “Local Matters” which airs every Tuesday at 8pm on channel 14/700HD) where he outlined the intention of the new piece of legislation.
Here are some details listed in the press release from the Province of Ontario:
Today, April 14, the legislature also passed the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support and Protection Act to amend the Education Act, Planning Act, Development Charges Act, Police Services Act and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act as follows:
Education Act
- Amending the Education Act will allow school boards with an expiring education development charge (EDC) by-law to use their existing by-law for an additional six months after the end of the COVID-19 outbreak, so they can continue to charge fees on new construction. This change ensures school boards can retain a vital source of revenue that helps support new school projects.
- The Education Act is also being amended to provide a fair and consistent, province wide approach to addressing school suspensions and expulsions. During the closure period and with the physical distancing requirements, it is not feasible for boards to complete investigations and hold expulsion hearings.
Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act
- Amending the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act will temporarily suspend student loan payments for OSAP borrowers and initiate a six-month interest-free moratorium on OSAP loans. Both measures will automatically apply to current OSAP loans, providing immediate relief to OSAP borrowers during this difficult time.
Planning Act
- Amending the Planning Act will provide municipalities the time they need to focus on local public health priorities by making it possible to suspend certain planning decision timelines during a declared state of emergency. These changes will temporarily pause the need for municipalities and planning boards to make planning decisions within specified timelines without the risk of appeal.
Development Charges Act
- Amending the Development Charges Act will ensure municipalities can continue to count on a vital source of revenue that helps pay for local growth-related infrastructure, such as roads, water and sewers as well as fire and police services. This change allows municipalities with an expiring development charge by-law to use their existing by-law during the current emergency and for six months following the end of the emergency declaration, so they can continue to charge fees on new construction.
Police Services Act
- The amendments to the Police Services Act allow the Solicitor General to extend the deadline for community safety and well-being plans past January 1, 2021, which will help ensure municipalities are able to meet the legislative requirements and complete their community safety and well-being plans within new required timelines, which will be set at a later date.
From Halton’s perspective, we have already passed and approved our Community Safety & Well Being plan and the province had legislated other municipalities to have theirs approved by a certain date, so this doesn’t apply to Halton Region as we were ahead of the curve. To see a copy of our CSWB plan, click here.
These new provisions will allow municipalities like Milton to be able to collect much needed development charges from developers to be able to continue to fund new infrastructure during the COVID19 situation.
As was outlined by staff during todays Milton Town Council meeting, there has been a huge financial impact so far on town revenues during the COVID19 situation. The report states:
As uncertainty remains with respect to the time horizon and degree to which COVID19 will continue to impact operations, a number of financial scenarios are being
assessed. If closures were to extend to the end of 2020, as an example, gross
revenue losses could exceed $14 million with a remaining operating budget pressure
of $2 million after the existing list of available forms of mitigation are considered. If
the Town’s fall programs are able to generate approximately the normal amount of
revenue, the existing list of mitigations may be sufficient to offset a large portion of the
budget pressure that is expected.
This obviously is the worst case scenario provided this current level of social and physical distancing continues until the end of the year. We are currently working on these assumptions but hope for the best – and as long as residents continue to follow the direction from our medical officer of health, we will get through this. We are getting through this! Day by day we are getting closer to be able to get back to being with our friends, family members and neighbours.
One of the things that must be remembered, municipal governments can not run deficits like our provincial and federal partners. We MUST balance our budget with the limited revenue tools that we have at our disposal. Either taxes/DC’s have to increase or spending decreases are needed to ensure we balance the books. Given this situation there are financial plans in place and Milton is in a good position for cash flow, reserve accounts etc to mitigate this impact. If the situation does get worse, we would have to look to other levels of government to provide assistance. Now that the province has passed this legislation, hopefully the dialogue between the municipalities and Queens Park continues and options are left open to assist towns & cities should they require the help.
More updates to follow.