Residents of Simcoe County can expect a 3.625 per cent increase on their county portion of the 2025 tax bill.
Members of county council found themselves debating two options presented to them by staff — 3.5 per cent or four per cent increases — but ultimately both options were vetoed in two different votes.
That conundrum ultimately prompted Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin to present an option that wasn’t included within the staff report: an even split between the two staff recommendations.
“From this vantage point, I can see all of the cards. Half the house wanted 3.5 and half voted against it. The other half wanted 3.75 and the (other half) voted against it, so I cut it right down the middle,” said Dollin.
“A compromise in politics … we don’t see that very often,” quipped Springwater Mayor Jennifer Coughlin, who is the county's deputy warden and was chairing the meeting in the warden’s absence.
The 3.625 per cent total increase represents a 1.625 per cent increase in the county’s operating side of the budget, and two per cent asset management (capital) budget.
How that will impact individual tax bills is still unknown, as the changes led to necessary updates from the county’s finance department, which are not yet available, said Collin Matanowitsch, the county’s public relations manager.
The county’s 2025 budget includes several key projects, including the expansion of a new LINX Transit route to serve south Simcoe communities, continued work at the Simcoe Village Campus redevelopment in Beeton, a large affordable housing project in Barrie and the completion of other sites, phased road work on three separate county roads, and a new paramedic station in Waubaushene.
Over the course of Tuesday's budget discussion, councillors questioned a few different items, but most of their time was spent debating the need for the hiring of four new emergency management positions in 2025.
Dollin said that after speaking with emergency management personnel in her municipality, she has realized it's not a “one-size-fits-all solution” for how emergencies are managed across the province.
“They don’t require an extra body to help provide training or grant writing," she said. "I understand that this is not all about Innisfil, so (my) idea is this be deferred to the 2026 budget and that all municipalities either say yes, they could use the extra resources, or no ... and if only five or six … then you only have to hire three or four.
"If (we) hire four … and don’t need them, I think we are over-resourced and this is an expensive resource,” added Dollin, who later tabled a recommendation to reduce the number from four to two for the upcoming budget year.
The budget process, explained the report, includes several checkpoints for each budget item discussed and includes justification for its inclusion in the budget.
“Department budgets are developed to maintain existing services and service levels and incorporate anticipated changes in revenues and expenses,” the report stated.
Trevor Wilcox, the county’s general manager of corporate performance, said a number of items were discussed during budget talks, adding the report presented to council on Tuesday outlined additional information staff believed was important to bring forward for clarification.
The report, which recommended a tax levy increase of four per cent, also included several different options and laid out how that would impact services.
“What I outlined in the package was various different levels of levy with the flow through impact to the operating balance and what that would mean,” he said.
Bradford West Gwillimbury Mayor James Leduc, who tabled an amendment that council support a tax levy increase of 3.5 per cent, said he was trying to find a number everyone could be comfortable with.
“When looking at this (report), it made it clear that we could do 3.5 per cent without impacting any of our services" he said. "I think that’s what the goal of the council should be here today. That we still provide all of the services we require for the residents of Simcoe County."
Wilcox said the reason the dollars were laid out the were they were was because staff had originally landed on a four per cent increase. This was done to provide an operating balance that would provide more support toward the capital program the county currently has in place, as well as the future capital program where dollars have already been committed.
“Yes, we can do all of the service without impacting them with any of those lines … and that’s why we’ve given you all (the options)," he said. "I was trying to encourage a little bit larger of an increase to reflect that. I understand the desire for a rate that is a little bit lower, so that’s why the options are laid there.
“As your financial chief within the county, I would be remiss if I didn’t advocate for as large an increase as you feel is appropriate because that is going to help us most in the future," Wilcox added. “We have had years with much lower than inflationary increases and that has put a lot of pressure on financials within the county.
"To the degree we don’t have an increase that’s a little bit higher, I will probably be coming back to you at some point in the future, but I understand where council is sitting."
The county’s budget will be reviewed further and could be brought forward for ratification at the Nov. 26 meeting of council.
