Milton council endorses current 2-tier government

Town’s position mirrors that of neighbouring municipalities

Yorkregion.com
March 13, 2019
Nathan Howes

Following in the footsteps of other Halton municipalities, Milton has passed a resolution endorsing the current two-tier government.

The motion, put forward by Mayor Gord Krantz, received unanimous approval from council on March 4 and is aligned with those green-lighted by other Halton communities in recent weeks.

Milton’s resolution will be forwarded to all Halton municipalities, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark.

Initiated in January, the Ontario government’s review will examine Ontario’s eight regional municipalities (Halton, York, Durham, Waterloo, Niagara, Peel, Muskoka District and Oxford County), the County of Simcoe, and their lower-tier municipalities, to identify inefficiencies in governance.

The resolution favours the current two-tier model, which could become single tier or amalgamated once the government concludes its review.

“There really is no single cookie-cutter type of administration for some of the counties and regions in the Province of Ontario, especially in the Golden Horseshoe, Greater Toronto Area,” said Krantz.

“We believe, collectively, that the Region of Halton is working quite effectively.”

On whether or not moving to a single-tier government will save money, the Milton mayor brought up the City of Toronto and Premier Doug Ford’s decision to axe the council in size from 47 to 25 seats.

“If you think by eliminating politicians sometimes, it saves money, in the case of Toronto, it didn’t. It actually cost it money,” said Krantz.

“You have to be very, very careful on legislating certain things because they can come back to bite you. In that case, they did.”

He also cited Milton’s recent reduction of council to nine seats, but in its case, there are savings, Krantz said.

This is the result of having a “responsible council,” despite the recent tax hike.

“That really wasn’t created because of additional politicians. If anything, we saved money there,” said Krantz.

According to the Town of Milton, 98 per cent of Halton residents rate their quality of life as very high.

A 2018 municipal study by BMA Management Consulting Inc. found Milton to have the lowest municipal cost, including tax rates and water and wastewater rates, as a percentage of household income in Ontario.

To illustrate his concerns about the government’s review, Krantz pointed to the recent changes to Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa.

“Has that been any more efficient? Has that been any cheaper or any more effective? In my opinion, no. If anything, the bureaucracy becomes greater. It really is the tail wagging the dog that bureaucracy starts taking over. It takes on a life of its own,” said Krantz.

“Bigger government is not necessarily better government. If anything, just to the detriment. All you have to do is look at the City of Toronto.”

The Ontario government chose Michael Fenn and Ken Seiling to act as special advisers in the coming months and provide recommendations to improve governance, decision-making and service delivery.

The special advisers will work with the province to explore:

• Opportunities to make it easier for residents and businesses to access municipal services;
• Processes to deliver efficient and effective local services that respects taxpayers’ money;
• Methods to make municipalities open for business; and,
• Possibilities to cut red tape and duplication and save costs.

Krantz noted Milton chief administrative officer Bill Mann and himself met with Fenn and Seiling about a month ago to present their thoughts on the review.

While they fully support the current two-tier government, Krantz said it can still be improved and there may be some duplications that can be removed.

The pair told the advisers that Halton’s public transit is something that can be fixed.

The idea of merging the region’s transit system was presented to Seiling and Fenn.

“We travel within our own borders and people do like to move around, and have to move around, beyond those municipal borders,” said Krantz.

Coun. Colin Best, also favouring the current two-tier system, told the Champion that the local and regional levels of government both work well together and “nobody at the provincial level” has ever mentioned a problem with Halton Region.

The veteran Milton councillor met with Clark recently to discuss the matter.

“What he’s stating is ‘one size doesn’t fit all.’ So we’re hoping that there is some inefficiencies. The Town of Milton’s position is ‘we would like to upload transit to the regional level,’ similar to Waterloo, York and Durham,” said Best.

“He promises to come back with some results, probably later this summer or possibly the fall.”

He highlighted some of the region’s efficiencies, including the AAA credit rating, which have been recognized by numerous agencies.

Halton’s four mayors and regional chair Gary Carr signed a letter that was sent to Clark.

In it, they stated their shared position on the matter, outlining the successes and effectiveness of the regional government and Halton’s municipalities.

Among the examples of Halton’s successes mentioned in the letter include regional property tax rates at or below the rate of inflation, consistent growth in jobs, safest region in Canada, AAA credit rating and 98 per cent resident approval rating on customer service, as well as having each municipality receive high rankings by MoneySense as the Best Place to Live in Canada.