christina commisso

Milton Town Budget Barely Passes

Mike Cluett

From Christina Commisso, Milton Canadian Champion

Town budget barely passes

Council divided in approving Milton budget that will see municipal taxes rise by 4.58%

The 11 members of council spent little time discussing the increase during Monday’s marathon meeting, which saw only six of 11 councillors vote in favour of the controversial budget. Much of the divide and discussion came down to a 1 per cent tax levy that will establish a hospital expansion reserve fund.

Though Milton continues to enjoy one of the lowest property tax rates in the GTA, the 4.58 per cent increase was still too much for some councillors, including Milton’s mayor, to swallow.

“You’re always going to get differences, but a council split down the middle doesn’t send a very good message to the community and it doesn’t show a lot of confidence,” said Mayor Gord Krantz. “It sends a message that a lot of people are not comfortable with what’s going on. I hope it’s not a prelude of things to come.”

Voting against the budget were Krantz and councillors Tony Lambert, Greg Nelson, Rick Malboeuf and Mike Cluett. Voting for the budget were councillors Colin Best, Sharon Barkley, Cindy Lunau, Arnold Huffman, Rick Di Lorenzo and Zeeshan Hamid.

The increase isn’t nearly as steep as staff previously predicted was necessary, when an initial budget report suggested a levy of close to 7 per cent was needed. The report presented to the budget committee last week showed a 5.72 per cent levy, with options to bring that amount down to 2.08 per cent.

While a lot of Town Hall’s priorities were set during the previous council term, newly elected and returning councillors did make some slight changes to bring the increase closer to the rate of inflation. A $100,000 bike lane implementation program was reduced to $50,000 to be spread out over four years. The opening of the Milton Centre for the Arts and the new main library was delayed from April to June and a snowplow advertising campaign was eliminated from the budget.

The changes saved about $143,000.

The Town’s $164.2 million budget includes 80 infrastructure projects that total $85.6 million. The capital budget was largely influenced by eight multi-year projects pre-approved in 2010, which include the Main Street grade separation and several new facilities that should be operational by the year’s end.

On a $350,000 home, the 4.58 per cent increase translates to a $40.70 increase in the urban area and $34.05 for rural homes.

Combined with the regional, local and educational components of residential taxes, which account for 44 per cent, 29 per cent and 27 per cent respectively, Miltonians are looking at an overall tax increase of 2.2 per cent in the urban area ($19.41/$100,000 of assessed value) and 2.09 per cent in the rural area ($17.48/$100,000 of assessed value).

Hospital Levy Increases Tax Hike By 1%

Mike Cluett

From the Milton Canadian Champion

Christina Commisso, Milton Canadian Champion

Town staff presented the budget committee a 2011 budget with a 4.86 per cent hike and included options to bring that percentage down to 1.66 per cent. The committee approved a 2011 budget with a 4.58 per cent tax increase.

A passionate debate extended into the early morning and left council divided, after a motion to introduce a last-minute hospital expansion tax narrowly passed with a 6-5 vote.

The motion to establish the 1 per cent levy came late in the budget deliberations, after the budget committee, which is made up of the mayor and all councillors, had settled on a 3.58 per cent increase on the local share of residential taxes (29 per cent of the property tax bill).

Ward 3 Councillor Cindy Lunau introduced the motion, which was followed by an impassioned speech that drew applause from the gallery in Council Chambers Monday night.

“You can try every way to say this community has grown to point where this is such a critical need that we as a council will go out on a limb, before we know what the price is, to get our piggy banks ready,” she said of the levy, which translates to a yearly increase of $8.89 for the average Milton home.

“It’s a small amount, but it will never be used for anything else but local share expansion. We need to show the Province we really are ready. There are a lot of communities out there saying they need a hospital — we have to say that we’re a community you can count on.”

Along with Lunau, voting in favour of the levy were councillors Colin Best, Sharon Barkley, Arnold Huffman, Rick Di Lorenzo and Zeeshan Hamid. Voting against the increase were Mayor Gord Krantz and councillors Tony Lambert, Greg Nelson, Mike Cluett and Rick Malboeuf — the harshest critic of the levy.

“You’re saying we’ll be sending a message to the Province,” he told Lunau. “My concern is we’ll be sending the wrong message. The message being, look what Milton did. They’re prepared to pick the pockets of taxpayers to fund something we (the Province) should be paying for.”

However, Halton Healthcare Services (HHS) President John Oliver said setting money aside for the expansion is “critical” in influencing the Province to move forward with the much-needed expansion.

“It’s almost a given now; from Sault Ste. Marie to Niagara you’re seeing communities having to step in with the local share burden.”

Last week HHS asked the Town of Halton Hills for $4.5 million for the Georgetown Hospital expansion.

Di Lorenzo said planning for the future renovation well in advance is the fiscally responsible thing to do. “If you think a four per cent increase now is difficult, if we don’t start saving money we’re going to be seeing eight, nine, and 10 per cent increases.”

Huffman added: “It’s our job to make tough decisions, and maybe those decisions are not popular. If I’m wrong, maybe I won’t be elected in four years. But I can do without $10 (a year) to support the beginnings of a new hospital and show the Province we’re serious about this.”

While none of the councillors opposed to the levy were opposed to the expansion, some felt a public meeting was in order before finalizing the increase.

“Where I have some difficulty is the fact mere months after being elected — and after many of us around this table talked about accountability with regards to the voters — I have a very difficult time accepting a 1 per cent tax levy with very little, if not any, public consultation,” said Cluett.

The same sentiments were echoed by Nelson, who reminded council when they voted to support HHS with a contribution for the local share of the expansion this past summer, a new tax was a “last resort.”

“We haven’t even seen the funding options for the hospital yet from finance (department) as to what our options are,” said the downtown councillor. “Is there an urgency —absolutely. But we have time at this point to consult with the public. We 10 people can’t come up with all the answers. We need to research more on the issue.”

The budget committee passed the 4.58 per cent tax increase in a 6-5 vote, with the same councillors who voted against the hospital levy voting against the budget.

Krantz said he wished council would have been able to come to a consensus on the budget, but throughout the evening the mayor maintained he wouldn’t support a local levy above the rate of inflation.

The 1 per cent hospital tax rate adds $2.54 for every $100,000 of residential assessment.

Combined with the regional, local and educational components of residential taxes, which account for 44 per cent, 29 per cent and 27 per cent respectively, Miltonians are looking at an overall tax increase of 2.2 per cent in the urban area and 2.09 per cent in the rural area.

The 2011 budget will be voted on during Monday’s council meeting 

Say Cheese Mr Premier

Mike Cluett

From Christina Commisso Milton Canadian Champion

McGuinty attends tweetup

Local tweeters were greeted by an unlikely party-crasher Friday night — Ontario’s premier.Dalton McGuinty surprised about 25 people gathered for a meet-up among Twitter friends, better known as a ‘tweetup.’

“I want to be introduced as a fellow tweeter, and as Dalton,” the premier told organizer Robin Griffin in the parking lot of Shoeless Joe’s, before entering the party.

Griffin, of Milton, had previous correspondence with the premier over the social-networking site. “It all started when I tweeted that my daughter had a nightmare Dalton McGuinty was closing down her school.”

McGuinty tweeted back: “Ensure your daughter I’m not closing down her school and kiss her goodnight.”

Griffin, an experienced tweeter, has previously organized three tweetups. McGuinty is relatively new to the twittersphere, having only launched an account this past August. Despite entering late in the game, he has more than 5,300 followers and, according to Griffin, does all his own tweeting.

Last week, Griffin was contacted by McGuinty’s staff inquiring about the event. “I was told he really wanted to come since he’s never been to a tweetup, and he’ll be driving through the area Friday. But his head of security said I couldn’t tell anybody. It was the biggest secret I ever had to keep.”

But it didn’t take long for the twitterverse to become aflutter with the news once McGuinty entered the Main Street eatery.

“I respect him a little bit more for taking that chance,” said Ward 6 Councillor Mike Cluett, who attended the event. “A lot of his policies are unpopular, and you always run that risk of someone yelling and screaming.”

However, everyone treated the premier with respect, said Cluett, adding there was “an excitement in the air.”

While the event was non-political — with the premier spending about an hour-and-a-half asking attendees and Shoeless Joe’s patrons about themselves — Cluett did manage to bring up one local issue.

“I was helping take a picture (of McGuinty) and I said, “One, two, three, hospital expansion! I think the message was received. Even just getting the premier of the province to say the words ‘Milton hospital expansion’ is great.”

Event-goer Brian Best did a double-take when he saw the premier walk into the restaurant.

“His visit definitely humanizes him a bit more. It’s something you don’t see happen a lot with people in higher levels of government.”

Griffin said she’s honoured McGuinty found the time to stop by her event. “He’s a very important man in this country and he took the time to meet me, and I’m just a simple taxpayer.”

Days following the excitement of McGuinty’s visit, one burning question remains on Griffin’s mind. “How am I going to top this guest? 

Demographics Are Changing & Trustee Debate

Mike Cluett

Here is an article by Christina Commisso of the Milton Canadian Champion regarding some of the events coming out of the most recent Administration & Planning committee meeting.

“We heard from (Milton trustee) Donna Danielli that the school board was working on base statistics of about three children coming out of a household. Last week we learned it could be up to double that,” said Councillor Paul Scherer at last week’s town council meeting. “The implications in terms of us not getting those numbers right going forward could have a tremendous impact on the tax base in Milton.”

Paul brings up a valid point.  If we as a council moving forward, make plans for programs we need to know if there are any major changes to the demographics in town.

To say that Milton is a family friendly town would be an understatement.  There are some streets I canvass in Ward 6 that its easier to count on one hand the number of homes without children.  You can call it Milton’s Baby Boom.

Councillor Scherer asked town staff to come back to the new council with an updated report on population projections as we are rapidly approaching the beginning of the Boyne Survey.  The “Boyne” as its referred to, will be the newest development in Milton that will bring close to 60,000 new Miltonians to town.  It stretches from James Snow Parkway from the east to Tremaine Road in the west, all just south of Louis St Laurent.

During this election, you have heard from candidates that we need “better planning”.  I think this report will go a long way to making sure we are on track with projections.  It’s not just a matter of the number of homes built and roads that are  constructed…its other services that the Town of Milton provides that might be under even FURTHER strain.  It’s services like the library, recreational facilities, and more importantly schools.  If we are low in our projections, down the road we will be squeezed at the delivery of the many services the town provides.

I look forward to reading this report when it comes back to council on the 20th of December.  I invite you to send me your comments, questions and concerns to mike@mikecluett.ca and I’ll add you to my email list for when updates on this are issued.

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Also, last night I attended the only all candidates meeting for the public and separate school board trustees in Milton.  I’ve talked about this position before as one that’s seems to be overlooked by a lot of people.  In fact, in previous elections, they used to have the trustees go first because most people would leave the debates/meetings after the Mayor and Regional Council speeches.

These people are entrusted to deal with the developments in our schools and the safety of our children…and most people don’t even know who the trustees are.  Last night 4 of the 5 candidates vying for the 2 jobs had a chance to speak and tell us a little about them.  I must admit, it was nice being on the OTHER side of the table for once.  Being a candidate myself, Im used to being the one talking instead of the one listening.

The candidates for Public School Trustee are Nancy MacNeil, Brian Hawley and Jafar Alam (Jafar wasn’t there last night due to a business engagement).  Both Brian and Nancy did a great job letting us know a little about them and what they would do if elected.  Its hard to talk about what you will be able to do, if you dont know the job or have no experience so both candidates were brutally honest about that fact.  Its going to be a tough choice for sure.

The other two candidates are running for the Halton Catholic School Board position.  Sandor Koso is the current trustee, but Diane Rabenda is a strong challenger and from the comments I heard last night from those in attendance, its a coin toss.  Great candidates all around.

Speaking of All Candidates meetings, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that tomorrow (Wednesday) is an All Candidates Meeting for the wards 1, 6, 7 & 8.  All candidates for all positions have said they will be there, so this is a good opportunity for you to come out and see what your next  council might look like.  You can go to the Hawthorne Villager website and get more info on times and location.

If you come on Wednesday, please stop me and say HI!  Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

Milton Historical Society All Candidates

Mike Cluett

Ward 6 Council Candidate Mike Cluett addresses the full house on Tuesday night for the All Candidates Meeting held by the Milton Historical Society

This past Tuesday evening at the Milton Fairgrounds, the Historical Society of Milton held the first of many all candidates meetings.  There were a lot of interested people filling the seats which was close to an open house.  At the front of the room sat over 25 candidates for office in Milton for the upcoming election, including yours truly.

On most peoples minds was the fate of St Pauls United Church, located in downtown Milton.  There have been many news articles on the situation at St Pauls and it weighed heavily in the room.  Designate or demolish?  When someone thinks of the demolition of St Pauls, an image of a large piece of machinery sitting in Main Street with a large cement ball comes to mind.  This isn’t the type of demolition that is being looked for by the congregation of St Pauls.

What do we do with other properties in Milton to protect them from similar fates?  As a town, how do we help owners of heritage properties in order to preserve Milton’s historical integrity?

As I and many other candidates from the newer area of Milton talked about the importance of protecting and preserving our history and heritage properties, the candidates from the local area were called upon for questions ranging from the obvious topic of St Paul’s to the restoration of downtown Milton, the affects of the Conservation Halton legislation on the flood plains among others.

It was a good chance to see some of the other first time candidates in action and to see if they understood the importance of the issues or if they still have something to learn.  The answers arent always easy and in some cases its not what people wanted to hear.

Here is a link to the recap of the meeting from Christina Commisso from the Milton Canadian Champion.

All in all I thought it was a productive meeting with much needed discussion about what to do.  It shouldn’t take an election campaign for the town, the councillors and the parties involved to get working on a solution to move forward.

A quick campaign update for you.  Over the last few days I have been working hard at talking to the residents of Ward 6 as well as keep up with the what seems to be the ever increasing demand for lawn signs.  If you would like to show your support for Mike Cluett in this election, send me an email mike@mikecluett.ca or click on my CONTACT page to call me and I will have one put up as quickly as possible.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.

AMO Status report

Mike Cluett

Keeping in tune with a previous article by Christina Commisso from the Milton Canadian Champion last week about elected officials and candidates being “online & connected” it made me wonder about the AMO conference that is going on this week.

She had also written an article about our 5 councillors who are attending the AMO Conference in Windsor this week.  She spoke with a number of them and they all mentioned they would be pushing for the expansion of Milton District Hospital.  You can read the article here.

Seeing how this is an important issue to many Milton residents it would be helpful if we got some updates from those councillors at the conference.  Problem is, we dont know whats going on.

Just imagine if they posted updates on Twitter for instance saying “discussing Milton hospital with provincial officials at the AMO Conference…things going well” or something to that affect.  Those of us who follow on Twitter or on the candidates/councillors websites can from the comfort of our home get an understanding of what is happening and the status of those talks.

I know that at least one of the attendees at this conference is on Twitter so hopefully they will get the message and let us know how things are going regarding the Milton hospital issue.

One of the most common concerns I am hearing at the doors during this campaign is making sure residents are kept up to date on issues that face Milton.  Does it have to be instantaneous?  Not at all.  But something is better than nothing.  My promise to you as your councillor after Oct 25th is to keep that flow of information going so that residents are kept in the loop. 

It doesnt take that long to post a 140 character message on Twitter or quickly update a website/blog so that people know their concerns are being looked after.  I know its summer and the last thing on the minds of many residents is politics but quick postings here and there can go a long way.

I look foward to the councilors report on this conference at the next council meeting and how discussions went with other municipalities about a united front to lobby the provincial government to allow the use of development charges to fund the local portion of the hospital and discussions with provincial officials that are there about the importance of and the need for expansion of Milton District Hospital.

Maybe a quick update from one of the attendees is in order.  I’ll keep checking Twitter and see.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.