East Gwillimbury puts community safety at forefront of 2019 budget
Tax rate includes dedicated 3-year tax levy for emergency services

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 26, 2019
Amanda Persico

East Gwillimbury is making strides to a full-time firefighter service with its recent tax levy dedicated to hiring more full-time firefighters.

Recently, the town approved a 2.55 per cent tax rate increase, which includes a one per cent tax levy split evenly between growing the town’s emergency services and the operating costs of the future Health and Active Living Plaza and Operations Centre.

The town’s tax increase of 2.55 per cent amounts to an additional $40 a year, based on the average $500,000 home.

The emphasis for this year’s budget was put squarely on community safety and getting a move on the town’s first aquatic centre.

“We’re at a critical point in our growth,” said Mayor Virginia Hackson. “Exciting projects are on the horizon.”

The dedicated 0.5 per cent levy will be in place 2019 to 2021.

For the price of about $8 per household, the town is gearing up to hire a new full-time firefighter mid-year 2020 and another hire in 2021.

A year after the devastating fire that claimed the life of four members of the Dunsmuir family, the town started to invest heavily in its fire services.

That year, the town doubled its number of full-time firefighters bring the total to 12 and passed a multi-year funding plan to boost its fire services in the long-term.

Additional firefighters would not have changed the outcome of the tragic fire in 2013 that claimed the lives of four in Sharon, said Fire Chief Philip Dawson.
“This was a tragic incident within East Gwillimbury,” he said. “The coroner’s recommendations focused around public education, including educating the public on the importance of working smoking alarms.”

All firefighters, both full-time and volunteer, participate in public education, he added.

But adding more full-time firefighters allows for more public education and community outreach by on-duty crews, Dawson added.

Currently, the town has 18 full-time firefighters operating out of the Queensville Fire Station and about 80 volunteer firefighters, added Dawson, who also manages the town’s emergency and community safety services.

The goal is to have 20 full-time firefighters.

Adding an additional full-time firefighter does not impact service levels, said Dawson, only adding to the town’s roster. 

And moving to 20 full-time firefighter crew allows for four rotating shifts of five firefighters.

In fact, there is no standard number of firefighters at all, either full-time or volunteer, said Richard Boyes, executive director of Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs.

“It’s up to the municipality to set the level of service,” he said. “It often starts with a volunteer service than as the town grows its transitions out. East Gwillimbury is slowly growing and transitioning.”

Town growth along with call volume, recruitment and volunteer retention all play a factor, Boyes added.

Along with putting money aside for future firefighters and the town’s first pool, this year’s budget also carries on the tradition of zero debt.

The town has no debt and manages to put money away in the bank.

“We have zero municipal debt,” Hackson said. “And the budget continues that.”

Town council unanimously approved its 2019 budget of about $45.1 million, which  includes $23.3 million for operations; $7.9 million for capital projects; $5.5 million for development and fee supported items; and $8.4 million is the proposed water and wastewater budget.

For more information on the town’s 2019 budget, visit eastgwillimbury.ca/budget.

Top 5 expenses in the town’s 2019 $22.3 million operating budget:

• $11.8 million -- salaries and benefits for more than 145 full-time and about 200 part-time contract or seasonal town employees, as well as salaries and benefits for two new councillors and a 2 per-cent cost of living increase for all non-union staff.
• $5.27 million -- emergency services, including $4.45 million in salaries and benefits.
• $1.63 million -- library services.
• $1.32 million -- utilities.
• $1.29 million -- waste collection.
• $1.29 million -- contribution to town reserves.
• Highlights from the 2019 capital budget include:
• $3.27 million -- for community parks, recreation and culture, including: playground upgrades and replacements at Grant Park, Emily Park, Mainprize Park and Queensville Park; sport field lighting at Anchor Park; and a skate board and scooter park at Mount Albert Community Centre Park.
• $3.18 million -- community infrastructure including: asphalt resurfacing along various streets in town; LED street light conversion and speed radar boards.
• $325,000 -- emergency and community services, including: bylaw enforcement vehicles, Holland Landing fire station renovation, in-house training equipment for firefighters and new specialty rescue equipment.
• $112,000 -- library upgrades, including: new e-material and renovation of the Mount Albert public library branch.