milton town hall report

Milton’s Budget Passes & Levy With A Twist

Mike Cluett

Just an FYI… according to reports today CPI rose to 2.4% in December.  Rate of increase in town portion of budget spending was 3.58% (add in 1.0% levy) for 4.58%. 

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2011/01/25/inflation-canada.html

Last night council continued its marathon discussions on the budget and other items almost until the wee hours of the morning.  Since taking office we have yet to finish a meeting before 11pm.  Tiring pace to say the least, but that’s why we were elected.

In addition to debating the 1% tax levy for hospital expansion, the meeting included a number of pubic sessions for input on future developments around town.  One of the contentious items was looking at the zoning for the north side of Main Street near Thompson Road.  Business owners made a pitch to council, of which some of it made sense, about allowing certain types of zoning for that area that will help them decrease their vacancy rates and have more businesses in town.  They are right.  This area is the new gateway to the community with the Milton Centre for the Arts and the Superstore at that intersection.  The zoning that is being allowed is still quite flexible but staff and council still had concerns when it comes to the types of zoning and the potential parking issues that might arise.  Its not a dead end for the business owners, as they can still apply for zoning changes.  The big thing that had to be considered is the development of the Main Street underpass and what the area will look like in the future.  Thats getting underway this year and next…hopefully it wont take too long.  My personal opinion is that this underpass should have already been started so that when its complete it can compliment the Arts Centre.  As it stands now, we might have some traffic issues from people on the west side of town coming towards that area using residential streets like Woodward, Nippising and Childs to get to the Arts Centre…but that’s a debate for another day.

After all the public meetings were complete, council moved to discuss “ITEM 18” from the budget which was the 1% tax levy for the hospital expansion.  Many of the same arguments were brought up again both on the pro and against sides of the arguement so really nothing new was discussed.  In the end, via a recorded vote, the results were the same.

In Favour of the 1% tax levy:  Clr Di Lorenzo, Hamid, Best, Lunau, Barkley, Huffman.

Against the 1% tax levy:  Clr Cluett, Nelson, Lambert, Malbouef and Mayor Krantz.

We could continue to debate this forever on the “how” we get the funding until sometime next year.  The points that I made were simple.  We needed to have public input on this item as we HAVE the opportunity to do so.  Some have stated taxes only as a last resort, but I honestly don’t feel that we’re there yet.  We have the time to garner input and support from the public on this and move forward in less of a fractured way.  The Chief of Staff at MDH along with the COO of MDH made presentations last night in support as they feel a fund is “critical” towards getting approval from the province.

The original staff motion in this budget was to have $100,000 from the community fund (funded by slot revenues and not tax dollars) placed into the reserve fund as a deposit to get it going and show the province we’ve put hard dollars into place.  The tax levy motion introduced by Councillor Lunau replaced that $100,000 with the 1% on taxpayers bills.  That $100,000 was later put back into the community fund through a notice of motion from Councillor Huffman to start a “matching” program with Milton service clubs.

An interesting development occurred last night when the Town Clerk informed us that the wording of the motion went against the municipal act.  You cant initiate a tax levy on just one taxpayer.  It has to be included in everyone’s tax bills including commercial, industrial and retail taxpayers.  This complicates the issue even more as many of the businesses in town (downtown Milton etc) are small businesses.  I know many of these people and they find it quite difficult to stay afloat and now we have added an additional 1% to their tax bill as well.  Again, without any consultation with the public whatsoever.

The reality is that the tax is here.  I did my best to convince my colleagues that it wasn’t the right thing to do right now.  We have more time and we should use it to get the job done right and involve the people in the decision making process.  The job now is to work with residents to educate them on whats going on in this process with the province, and what we will have to do in the future to fund this hospital expansion fund….without going BACK into taxpayers pockets with this levy.

I’d like to thank everyone over the past week who has emailed, called or personally spoken with me on this issue.  Some of us will disagree with what happened but an overwhelming number of you were in support of the public consultation process and wish we did more.  I promise I will do my best in the coming weeks and months to help that process along so that way we don’t have any more surprises like this and we work together as a town and most importantly as a unified council to get the desired result.  Only time will tell if it’ll work of if it does, we wont really know if by doing this it made the difference.  Milton is in competition with about 55 other municipalities who are struggling to do the right thing as well.  They are raising money…a lot more than we are. 

The need is there for Milton.  That’s not in doubt.  I will continue to pressure local officials to help me in convincing the province to recognize Milton, Canada’s fastest growing municipality, is in dire need of expansion of any kind to help improve the quality of health care services in town.  Whatever services our new hospital will have … we need something now.

Lets work together now to ensure that happens.

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 

Milton Police Blotter – January 20 2011

Mike Cluett

From the Milton Canadian Champion

Teen robbed of cell phone outside Memorial Arena

Shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday, two males approached a 16-year-old youth outside Milton Memorial Arena, police said.

The two males proceeded to detain the victim, by holding onto his backpack, and steal his Blackberry.  The suspects fled, crossing Thompson Road.

The first suspect is described as five-foot-10 and in his late teens or early twenties. He was wearing baggy jeans and a black puffy jacket.  The second suspect has a thin build and short spiky hair.

Both were possibly of Middle-Eastern decent, police said.

Cameras stolen in break-in

A Cannon Rebel camera along with its 55mm lens and an Olympus camera were taken from a Sixth Line home near Derry Road last Thursday.

The break-in occurred between 2 and 3 p.m.  The culprits smashed through the home’s front door to gain entry.

Break-in at shop

Pro-Nail on Main Street East was broken into after the front door and window were smashed overnight Friday.   During the incident, two containers of nail-hardener, with a combined estimated value of $350, were taken.   Loose change was also taken from the shop.

CDs and DVDs stolen from car

Overnight last week, a Kia Sedona was broken into at a residence on Trudeau Drive.   During the incident, CDs and DVDs were stolen.  Police said the car was unlocked.

Two vehicles broken into

Overnight January 12, cars on Switzer Crescent and Cousens Trail were broken into, police said.  During the first incident, a wallet, which contained identification, credit cards and cash, was taken from the unlocked car.

In the second incident, the same items were taken from a locked 2009 Jeep.

More 2011 Budget Feedback

Mike Cluett

There has been lots of discussion on the Hawthorne Villager web forum on the aftermath of the 2011 Milton budget that was passed by the committee on Monday.  You can follow it here.

I made a comment on one of the threads regarding the importance of public involvement in the budget process that I’ll post here as well.  For those that don’t know, the budget process just doesn’t happen at the end of the year.  Its a result of many months of work from town staff, reports to council and public feedback.

Its important that the residents of Milton are involved in that process, and as I outline in my post on the Villager, we have many new faces on council that are “connected” and available to get that important feedback from taxpayers and in this coming year we will be looking at the 2012 budget.  (I know we JUST finished with 2011 and now were on to 2012!)

Next year will be even more of a challenge as further operational costs from the Milton Centre for the Arts, the new library and the Milton Sports Centre come online.  There’s the challenge of what kind of state our economy will be in and how it will affect long term projections.  Its important we get the feedback from the public on what you feel the town’s priorities should be.

Next Monday is the council meeting where we will be reviewing the last budget committee report and passing (?) the 2011 budget.  As I said, after this, we look forward towards 2012 and what Milton will look like then, what we will be spending money on, what roads will be developed or set into the pipeline and you need to be part of it.

Here’s my post from the Villager.  Feel free to comment there or here.

The beauty of having so many new councillors who are “connected” online and very active in the community is that this coming budget process – which is a public process – will become MORE public. Meetings will be promoted through councillors websites, through this board and others and hopefully more throughout the local media (Champion, MiltonTodayTV, TV Cogeco etc)

I KNOW my collegues will work together to have even MORE budget town hall meetings through this process to get even MORE input from the public. Its not a criticism of the past, but more of a comment for the future.

Budgets aren’t on everyone’s top 10 lists of things to do during the week but hopefully we can get more feedback from Milton residents on what they want. A continuation of sorts from the election campaign. I campaigned on continuing to knock on doors between campaigns and I intend to do so and challenge my council friends to do the same.

We are fully aware of mistakes made in the past by other municipalities like Mississauga and Bramtpon to name a couple and we want to ensure that doesn’t happen here.

As long as the process is open as much as possible to the public and they have their say on major issues like a further tax levy for hospital expansion for increases in spending for transit, we will have done our job.

Ive talked with all my council friends and said that when we look at these budget figures to look at them like were doing our home budgets. Wants vs needs and if we can find savings or further efficiencies we have a duty to do so. We also need to look at both the long range and the short term as well. Is the economy doing well…what is the outlook for the next few years…what is the long range outlook for the next ten years. Some questions are easily answered and some are more difficult and will require debate. We have to look at the long range goals of the town of Milton…what demands are placed on us from other levels of government like the Region of Halton and the Province of Ontario (which directs our growth goals)

If you thought the last few years saw a lot of change, as the old saying goes, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Changes are happening from all directions…Milton Education Village, Derry Green Corporate Business Park, Boyne Survey, the possible hospital expansion and the intensification of Main Street.

Im open to any and all suggestions and if they make sense, we can move forward on them. Democracy is like a conversation…it cant be one way…which is why we need your input and feedback. That’s what a majority of us were elected on this past October and now were in office we cant forget those reasons.

Keep the debate coming …

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? 

Milton Police Blotter – January 13 2011

Mike Cluett

From the Milton Canadian Champion

Police respond to snowstorm-related car crashes

Local police attended to six car accidents between the hours of 6:55 and 8:42 yesterday morning, at the tail end of this week’s snowstorm.  Although there were no injuries, all accidents resulted in property damage.Locations of the accidents included Britannia and Trafalgar roads, Martin Street and Steeles Avenue, Hwy. 407 and Sixth Line and Lower Base Line West and Sixth Line.

Home ransacked

A laptop, Blackberry charger, Olympus camera and coins worth $86 were stolen from a Sixth Line home.  The culprit forced open the front door sometime between 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. January 4.  The estimated value of the stolen items is $1,086.

Three cars broken into

An iPod Touch, with an estimated value of $350, was stolen from a car on Trudeau Drive between 3 p.m. January 3 and 8 a.m. January 4.  A wallet including seven credit cards and $50 cash was stolen from a Nissan Rogue on Dolby Crescent January 3.  Overnight January 3, $20 in cash and five CDs, worth an estimated $120, were stolen from a silver BMW on Menefy Place.

PlayStation stolen

Between 6 a.m. and 11:15 p.m. Monday, a Barclay Circle home with an unlocked door was broken into.  Stolen were a Sony PlayStation worth an estimated $400, eight games worth about $80, and loose change.  Police are investigating.

GPS taken from car

Overnight last Thursday, an unlocked vehicle on Mary Street was broken into.  During the incident, a Garmin GPS worth an estimated $175 was stolen.

Four cars broken into

Overnight Saturday, cars on Maguire Trail, Riddell Court, Hepburn Road and Stark Circle were broken into.  In the first incident, a wallet containing identification, credit cards and cash was taken.  In the second break-in, two CDs, loose change and Ray-Ban sunglasses worth an estimated $200 were taken.  In the third and fourth incidents, loose change was stolen.

Items stolen from cars

Overnight Monday, identification, credit cards and cash were taken from a car on Trudeau Drive.  Police are investigating.