Norfolk mayor asks province for ‘new deal’
Cash-strapped county plans to spend $1 billion over next decade to upgrade, maintain infrastructure
Norfolk County Mayor Amy Martin puts a premium on having good relations with the province. But hearing Premier Doug Ford recently accuse municipalities of “gouging” taxpayers made her bristle.
During a mid-February news conference, Ford said all levels of government needed to cut spending to “start giving people relief.”
“Property taxes, who’s there? Municipal governments gouging you for more money,” Ford said in a clip posted to the premier’s social media.
“Why don’t you run the government efficiently and stop taxing the death out of people in Ontario?”
Martin took issue with Ford’s critique, pointing out provincial funding cuts have left municipalities holding the bag.
“We raise property taxes to pay for critical infrastructure,” Martin commented on Ford’s post.
“This one stings,” the mayor added. “I go out of my way to be a positive, helpful partner with your government. This doesn’t demonstrate the same respect.”
In an interview, Martin told The Spectator rural communities like Norfolk are grappling with spikes in homelessness, addictions and mental-health issues while Queen’s Park has downloaded nearly $4 billion in provincial responsibilities onto local councils.
Norfolk was forced to add more than $500,000 to the 2024 operating budget to fund stormwater management, social assistance and the provincial offences court, Martin said, while the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit has cut five programs and 11 full-time staff positions since 2020 to make up for a shortfall in provincial funding.
At council on Feb. 21, Martin tabled a motion calling for a “new deal for Norfolk” that would see the province step up with more money.
The aim of the motion, Martin told The Spectator, is “advocating and educating our provincial partners on what a modern municipality actually looks like.” Martin’s “new deal” pitch is a nod to the funding agreement the province struck with the City of Toronto in December. The mayor said Norfolk’s “financial concerns” are just as serious.
Norfolk plans to spend $1 billion over the next decade to upgrade and maintain the water and sewer system, roads and bridges, and county facilities. That level of spending is almost double what was approved in the previous 10-year capital budget, which was set at $541 million in 2020.
The danger of the price tag ballooning even further was illustrated last month when councillors begrudgingly approved more money to upgrade Port Dover’s water treatment plant, a project whose 2020 budget of $8.4 million has reached $21.3 million.
County staff made the numbers work by cancelling necessary but not critical upgrades planned for Simcoe’s water treatment plant, but project director Mariana Balaban warned councillors that “unorthodox” approach to budgeting could backfire if future costs rise.
The single largest expense in Norfolk’s 2024 operating budget is not road repair or emergency services, but debt servicing, while the infrastructure plan is expected to push the county over its self-imposed internal debt limit of 15 per cent of revenue.
Norfolk’s debt rate is already 58 per cent higher than the provincial average, according to a study by BMA Consulting Inc. that Martin cited in her motion, while the county is in the midst of a years-long process to replenish reserves past councils emptied to artificially keep taxes low.
Without help from the province, Martin predicted more tax hikes, service cuts and bare-bones budgets in the years ahead.
“We’re not asking for the frills anymore.”