City councillors freeze DBIA levy
Council is sticking to its earlier plan to stop the DBIA from increasing the levy it charges its members, in 2018. During city budget talks in November, councillors voted to bar the DBIA from carrying out its plan to increase the levy by two per cent.
The DBIA board had voted to collect $310,800 in levies, in 2018 (up from $304,700 in 2017 - a difference of $6,100).
But during budget talks, councillors said no: they voted to freeze those levies at the 2017 level.
And on Monday, as council adopted its budget, it stuck to that decision.
Two councillors spoke against the move, on Monday: Coun. Dave Haacke and Coun. Gary Baldwin both said the city shouldn’t tell the DBIA how much it can charge its own members.
Although she didn’t speak on Monday, Coun. Diane Therrien said in November she thought the plan to curb the DBIA’s ability to increase its levy was “punitive”. But Coun. Keith Riel had suggested freezing the levies in November, saying he didn’t think the DBIA has been forthcoming about how it plans to spend its money – and most councillors ultimately agreed with him. Brad Collyer, a local accountant and treasurer of the DBIA, spoke to council on Monday about freezing the levy for 2018.
He said said the DBIA has planned a new event for the downtown in the fall of 2018 that will cost $6,000.
He also said the DBIA voted to increase its levies by two per cent in order to raise $6,000.
“To be clear, if we are unable to increase the levies, there will be no new event next fall,” he said.
But Coun. Keith Riel pointed out that the beautification and promotion spending has decreased, in the DBIA’s budget, while the salaries and wages have increased.
Collyer said DBIA staff’s work is entirely promotion of the downtown, and so there shouldn’t be a distinction made.
“You can’t tell me what Terry, Joel and Joon do isn’t promotion of the downtown,” he said, referring to DBIA staff.
Levies aren’t the only source of funding, for the DBIA.
The board will receive money from the city for street-cleaning, in 2018 ($96,400, the same sum as 2017) and in-kind services such as street closures for festivals ($27,500, again the same sum as 2017).
Councillors didn’t want to change those rates; the DBIA will still get that.
Meanwhile the DBIA is also about to start receiving $150,000 a year, for the next 20 years, to make up for the fact that council didn’t consider the downtown as a potential location for the casino (the building is under construction now on Crawford Dr.).
To make up for the loss of business downtown, the city is compensating the DBIA; in exchange, the DBIA dropped its appeal before the Ontario Municipal Board over the casino location.
Those $150,000 payments will begin in 2018 and will come on top of the levies and funding for street-cleaning and in-kind services.
The DBIA board voted earlier this fall on how it will likely spend that $150,000 in 2018: the downtown will likely get increased security, for example, a new mural and perhaps new holiday lights.