halton region mike cluett

Region of Halton Budget Highlights

Mike Cluett

Ive received a few emails from people asking when the Town of Milton budget documents will be ready.  As I’ve posted here before we are expecting those documents to be ready around the 26th of November for our review.  This will give councillors 14 days to review the budget, receive input from the public and make those decisions at our budget meeting on December 10th.

I personally am not happy with this timeline as it doesnt give us much time to review the finalized budget, consult with you and get more background information to make those decisions.  In the meantime, for you budget junkies out there 🙂 the Region of Halton budget is online for your review.  It contains roughly 570 pages of background information, capital budget items, operating budget items as well as a 10 year plan for the region.

Overall the tax rate increase will be 0% not including the police services budget which is included as a separate item.

As a reminder, Regional Councillor Colin Best will be holding a budget information session at the Sports Centre on November 28th  at 7pm Room number 4 and you will find yours truly there and maybe a few other of my colleagues to answer any questions you might have about this or the town of Milton’s budget.

You can find the documents here at www.halton.ca/budget

Here are some of the key investments and highlights from the Halton website.

Key investments proposed in the 2013 budget include:

  • $1.6 million to deliver new Assisted and Affordable Housing Units as identified in the Comprehensive Housing Strategy
  • An additional 100 child care fee subsidies for low income families and additional special needs services for 20 children
  • 10.4 paramedics to staff two 12-hour ambulances in the Region to ensure wait-times for ambulance services continue to meet standards ($1.1 million)
  • New waste diversion programs including a three bag garbage bag limit and expansion of the blue box program to include additional recyclable materials to extend the life of the landfill site resulting in long-term savings
  • $810,000 advanced funding through the Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative to support Halton’s low income residents
  • Increased investment in the Region’s water and wastewater maintenance program ($3.1 million) and state-of-good-repair capital program ($8.7 million) to ensure the existing infrastructure is appropriately maintained to provide service to the residents of Halton

The 2013 Regional budget will go to Regional Council for final approval on December 12th. Halton residents are invited to provide input or comments at budgets@halton.ca

Property Tax Impact of Regional Government Services – Typical Residential Home: $350,000 cva*

2012 Actual 2013Budget $ Change % Change
Regional Services $807 $807 $0.00 0.0%
Police Services** $448 $458 $10 2.3%
Total Regional Taxes*** $1,255 $1,265 $10 0.8%

If you have any questions on the budget you can submit questions to me mike.cluett@milton.ca or comments on this blog.

As soon as the Town of Milton budget documents are ready, I will post them here.  Let me know what you think!

#KeepMiltonAsOne

Mike Cluett

Fellow councillor Zeeshan Hamid posted a few days ago some disturbing information about possible changes to the electoral riding boundaries in our area.  From time to time Elections Canada undergoes a review of electoral districts when new census data comes in.  Given the fact that Milton is Canada’s fastest growing municipality, there were talks that Milton would become its own self sustaining riding.

THAT was the plan.  But things changed quickly a week or so ago.

The most disturbing part of this whole thing is that the commission had originally put Milton in as its own riding with a small portion of Burlington to be included.  As the commission headed to a close there were some last minute changes requested at a public meeting on the matter.  What the last minute changes?  Sources say that a former failed Liberal candidate was behind the request for the changes.

Instead of having one Milton riding, the suggestion was made to divide our town in two…essentially between “old” and “new” Milton.  Some have wondered about the strategy behind such a move.  Its due to a belief that a majority of “new” Miltonians are liberal supporters and by having “new” Milton separated from what has shown to be traditionally strong for the conservatives, it would help the chances for the liberals to have a winning seat in the next elections.

After these “suggestions” were made for the riding boundaries, the commission changed the original plans and essentially split up Milton into two riding’s.  One with Halton Hills and the “northern” part of Milton essentially north of Derry Road and the other with Burlington and the southern portion of Milton.

You can read Zeeshans detailed post here as he sums it up nicely.

Just this past Monday, the Administration & Planning Committee unanimously passed a Notice of Motion saying in no uncertain terms “leave Milton alone.”

Here is a story by Julia Le from the Champion about that.

“Ward 6 Councillor Mike Cluett noted that the original proposal — which left Milton intact but included a significant rural portion and two urban residential neighbourhoods in Burlington in the district proposed to be called Milton — was generally accepted by all the political parties in the area.

He said no one, across all parties, likes the new boundaries proposed.

“It is a mess the way it is. I think Milton should remain as one,” said Cluett. “ We already have issues of old and new Milton, we shouldn’t be dividing it up.”

Needless to say this is important from a town point of view that Milton remains in one riding.  By the time the next federal election is to take place, Miltons population will be roughly 120,000 people which is MORE than enough for a riding on its own.  The commission didn’t seem to take into consideration Miltons continued growth.

Yesterday at the public meeting in Oakville, 7 of the 11 Milton councillors including myself, Mayor Gord Krantz, Zeeshan Hamid, Rick Di Lorenzo among others attended and listened carefully to the submissions made my delegates.  Roughly 70% of those in attendance who spoke were against these new riding boundaries and called for the commission to go back to the original ones that had Milton as a whole.

We shall see what happens in the coming weeks as the commission deliberates this riding among other ones to bring forward their changes to the federal government.  The commission is continuing to receive email submissions from residents until November 30th so please, if you do feel strongly about this, send an email to ontario@rfed-rcf.ca and let them know you want to Keep Milton As One.

You can follow developments with this on Twitter with the hashtag #KeepMiltonAsOne and let us know what you think.

These new changes aren’t good for Milton at all and we hope the commission goes back to the original boundaries for our riding so that Milton will have one voice as we continue to grow the “G.M.A. – Greater Milton Area (TM pending 🙂 )

I’ll see you at the doors.

Milton Santa Claus Parade A Success

Mike Cluett

The weather was perfect.  Chilly but not too cold.  The sun was shining and the streets of downtown Milton were PACKED all along the parade route for the 2012 Santa Claus parade.

The parade began with a fly over of planes that never ceases to amaze me how they can fly in such perfect formation and so close to each other.  The cheers of the kids and parents alike could be heard blocks away as the parade began.  This year the Stuff a Bus was close to a pipe and drums band which helped in getting people excited.  Yours truly of course was being the “Mouth of Milton” leading people in Merry Christmas cheers as members of the Milton Fire Department and other volunteers picked up food and toy donations for the Salvation Army.

I dont have an official total yet but the bus was stuffed a lot more than last year.  This is just one of the reasons why Milton is a great community to live in.  The generosity of the families that call Milton home continues to grow and this Christmas season is no different.  We recently celebrated Thanksgiving and families and friends met to remind ourselves that we are indeed lucky to live where we do.  Miltonians also realize that there are others who need a hand up one in awhile and the Salvation Army is a great organization with wonderful volunteers helping those in need this holiday season.  I’m very proud to be part of it again this year.

There were some new floats and parts to the parade but there were also some great traditions continued as well.  Mike Boughton, known as Mike the Barber and former councillor for Ward 2 continued HIS tradition of offering hot chocolate and coffee to people along Main Street.  Knox Milton was also out in force with some warm beverages and smiles in front of our newly renovated church.  The last two parades saw a fence surrounding the property as they were doing work on repairing the roof and this year no fence was to be found thankfully and we were open for business.  I cant wait until St Paul’s United Church is finished their renovations as well so the fencing of Main Street can be over finally.

All I can say is that the numbers of people along the parade route continue to grow every year and my gut instinct is that this year was the best attended parade yet.  After our bus made its way to the Salvation Army HQ on Nippissing, I walked back along the parade route to catch a glimpse of the big guy himself….Santa.  I got a lot of feedback from people saying that this years parade was the best one yet…it moved along quickly, the floats were well done, people had lots of energy and it was a great kickoff to the Christmas season.

My congratulations go to the Santa Claus Parade committee for yet another job well done.

The following comment was posted on another thread from 2010 but it has pictures from this years parade and a link to them.  Thanks to Kevin Vagg for posting this and take a look at his Facebook page for more Santa Claus Parade pictures.

Great post.

I had the chance to attend the parade, and I must say that everyone should be proud. I also had the chance to take some photo – they’re at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.493580600673945.112013.226012654097409&type=1.

Sorry for the long web address – unfortunately it’s what Facebook uses.

Hope you enjoy.
Cheers,
Kevin

Thank you to all Miltonians who took part in the parade, volunteered their time and efforts to making it a magical day in Milton and putting smiles on the faces of thousands of children (and parents too)

Looking forward to next year already.

Merry Christmas Milton!

Region of Halton Budget Available ONLINE

Mike Cluett

I thought I had posted the link before but apparently I did everything but in one of my last posts.

You can find the Region of Halton budget for 2013 online at www.halton.ca/budget

Its a large document with 570 pages to read through so as many have said to me, if you have a problem sleeping…open this up. 🙂

This budget, like most is very important to the future of the region of Halton and it contains funding for a number of initiatives such as the new 3 bag limit and blue box program, enhancements to the waste water management systems and spending for affordable housing.  Overall the budget comes in line with a 0 % increase, not including spending on the police etc.

The Town of Milton Budget wont be made available until around November 26th which gives us a grand total of 14 days to review it, get feedback from the public and discuss it (Monday December 10th at 7pm…11th also if necessary.)  I am working on getting some information if its available before then to post here online to get your feedback.

If you have any questions about the budget or anything contained in the document, please feel free to email me mike@mikecluett.ca and I can answer them for you.  Regional Councillor Colin Best is having a budget meeting on November 27th at the Milton Sports Centre at 7pm Room #4 so send me an email if you can make it.

Work Begins at Intersection of LSL & Ferguson

Mike Cluett

I just wanted to post a quick update regarding the intersection of Louis St Laurent and Ferguson Drive.

As many of you remember, there has been a lot of concern about the safety of students in this area directly across from Craig Keilburger Secondary School and the lack of traffic control, especially during school hours.  Town Staff has confirmed with me that work has already started getting underground wiring installed for so that when the traffic lights are ordered/received, they can begin installation.  There is no timeframe as of yet to when it will be completed but its in progress. 

If you see workers at this intersection and wonder whats going on, its the preliminary setup for the traffic lights.

I’ll keep you posted on when the full lights/crosswalk will be installed when I get it.  As always, its imperative that you continue to communicate with the students of CKSS that they should cross the street with caution, not walk out into traffic and be safe in and around the school.  Its also important to remind drivers that they should exercise caution when driving in this area and obey the posted speed limits.

Thanks to everyone for their patience.  I’ll see you at the doors.

Budget Time Is Coming

Mike Cluett

Its that time of year again.

No, not Halloween…thats over.  Not Christmas time either.  Its 2013 BUDGET TIME.

Now these words normally spread fear in the hearts and minds (and therefore changes the sleeping patterns) of elected officials but its a very important time of the year.  If youve been reading the local papers, other Halton area municipalities are beginning their budget discussions.  Just today, there was an overview of the Halton 2013 budget presented to regional council and should be made available online today www.halton.ca/budget for public view.

The Town of Milton budget will be available a little later this month on November 26th…unless they get it ready sooner.  Id much prefer to have it available earlier as to give members of council and the public time to go over some of the major projects underway.  The town does have budget call reports throughout the year as Ive posted on my blog many times and this is the final budget to be reviewed before the meeting on December 10th and 11th.

As I outlined on my Twitter feed earlier today from the Regional Council meeting, here are some of the highlights of the 2013 Halton budget overview.

* Long term plan for Halton might be increases at or around rate of inflation. Provincial cutbacks might throw curve ball in future years.

10:17 AM – 14 Nov 12

* Clr Meed Ward asking what can future years increase look like for Halton & sites her experience in Burlington with spiked tax inc’s.

10:16 AM – 14 Nov 12

* Are we preparing for more download from province of services due to their financial condition at the Region of Halton?

10:14 AM – 14 Nov 12

* Reg Clr Meed Ward is concerned about the “party being over” for 0% increases. Inflation right now roughly 1.8% now.

10:08 AM – 14 Nov 12

* Reg Clr Colin Best asks questions re MPAC to ensure speed of new assessments. #MiltonON growth closer to 8% rather than 1.5% region wide.

10:07 AM – 14 Nov 12

* Region of #Halton continues to have a triple A credit rating

10:04 AM – 14 Nov 12

* 66% of $3.9 B in growth related infrastructure all funded by development charges #Halton

10:03 AM – 14 Nov 12

* Timing of project depends on allocation programs in 2013 and beyond. #Halton

10:02 AM – 14 Nov 12

* On the Capital side $3.9 B ten year program for transportation, waste management projects etc…#Halton

9:59 AM – 14 Nov 12

$584K for new waste diversion programs to increase life of the landfill which is “the most important asset of the region of #Halton“

9:55 AM – 14 Nov 12

Rate impact for #Halton ends up being zero due to GTA pooling savings.

9:54 AM – 14 Nov 12

* Assessment growth is expected to be 1.5% (new prop)#Halton MPAC assessments have been done. If you’ve incr more than avg taxes might go up.

9:52 AM – 14 Nov 12

* Region of #Halton budget to be put online in packet format to help those who use tablets as well.

9:49 AM – 14 Nov 12

SO needless to say the next few weeks will be busy reading these documents, finding out where money is being spent and getting feedback from the public on both the Region of Halton and Town of Milton budgets.  From time to time here on my blog, I will be posting reports and some feedback I have about the budgets and I hope you take time to read them.

For those of you who are interested, there will be a budget “information session” at the Milton Sports Centre on Wednesday November 28th in Room #4 from 7pm to 9pm for you to be able to ask questions and give us feedback and your thoughts on the Milton and Region of Halton budgets for 2013.  Regional Councillor Colin Best, myself and hopefully some more of our council colleagues will be there.  Send me an email mike@mikecluett.ca if youre interested in attending.