Rapid growth in Milton - funding disconnect

NRU
May 10, 2017
By Andrew Cohrs

A “poster child” of the Growth Plan, Milton has been one the fastest growing municipalities in Ontario over the past two decades. However, that growth has not been accompanied by the same level of provincial and regional investments in infrastructure.

“We are a poster child for [the] Places to Grow [Act]. We are doing everything possible but we are not getting the funding and the services from the provincial government and the federal government [in terms of] infrastructure, transportation and education,” Wards 2, 3, 4 and 5 local and regional councilor Colin Best told NRU.

In 2000, Milton had 32,500 residents. In 2016, there were 108,000 people and by 2031, the population is expected to more than double to 228,000. In order to accommodate new growth, the town is reaffirming its growth principles through the Building a Complete Community report.

Unanimously recommended for approval by the committee of the whole on Monday, the document lays the foundation for how Milton will grow and advocates for support from Halton Region and the province.

Building a Complete Community lists growth principles that include matching revenues with the cost of growth, maintaining a residential/employment ratio of one job per two residents, encouraging intensification near transit and advocating for timely and coordinated investments in transit, community infrastructure, water and regional roads.

Chief Administrative Officer Bill Mann told NRU that the document is intended to help the region and province recognize the discrepancy between Milton’s growth and upper level government support.

“For the last 20 years, we have provided over 70 per cent of the development revenue coming out of new buildings in Halton... If you expect us to continue along this path, which our council and community have embraced, we need help. We need the provision of two-way all-day GO [train] service. There is a disconnect in that manner between what is expected through the Growth Plan and what has been provided from a provincial transit point of view.”

Best agrees. He says the issue extends beyond GO service to all infrastructure that is provided by the region and the province. Both the Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board are over capacity. He noted that Bishop P.F. Reding Secondary School, for example, is using
33 portables. Additionally, the timing of water and wastewater infrastructure from the region has not kept pace with Milton’s development.

Mann says with the approval of the Building a Complete Community document, Milton council and staff will be able to proceed in discussions with upper levels of government with a unified, stronger position about growth goals and how different levels of government can contribute to that vision.

“Milton has developed on its own terms and we are proud of that. The whole thing is that we are looking for a shared vision. We are looking for acknowledgement coming out of the province, coming out of the region to say ‘Milton, you’ve done it well, you’ve endorsed your position and you’re going to continue to develop but in order to share that vision, we realise you need help with certain things.’”

Council will consider the Building a Complete Community report at its meeting June 26.