Toddler ‘head tax’ on new day care spaces in Georgina 'pure greed'

Keswick day care takes issue with $8K in fees for minor renovation town deems 'substantial'

Yorkregion.com
March 28, 2019
Heidi Riedner

An application to expand a Keswick child-care centre, mired in bureaucratic red tape for the past three years, has prompted calls to eliminate what some equate to a “head tax” on toddlers that impedes the creation of desperately needed licensed daycare spaces in Georgina.

“It’s sad and very frustrating,” says Haley Powless, the director of the Learning Together Childcare located on The Queensway South at Bessborough Drive.

“We get calls every single day from parents new to Georgina, as well as those looking for spots for younger siblings of children already at the facility, asking for a spot, and it’s upsetting for everyone involved that we can’t get them in here,” she adds.

Tying up the expansion is what owner Nick Didomenico considers the administrative hoops and corresponding significant fees associated with a minor addition that the town deems “substantial.”

the need for a minor site plan amendment under the Planning Act and more expensive municipal fees, he adds.

While the expansion will bump the area of the current 1,765 sq.ft. facility up by 25 per cent, to accommodate an additional 15 spaces to the existing 24, it triggers planning fees that amount to 40 per cent of the actual build cost.

“This unreasonable administrative burden will result in fees and charges payable to the Town and Region of $8,000 for a build cost of $20,000,” Didomenico says. “Of these, $7,000 are fixed in nature, so if I chose to modify the expansion to say a 12 per cent increase in area at a cost of $5,000, the fees do not change. That is simply ridiculous.”

Having already paid more than $30,000, excluding consultant fees, to the town, region and LSRCA for rezoning and site plan applications to get the original centre up and running in 2015, Didomenico says he may kill plans for creating a second standalone facility on the adjacent property because of the headaches surrounding the expansion.

“I have been trying to get the attention of the province to seek an amendment to the Planning Act to prohibit the imposition of fees, charges and levies on the creation of new child care spaces, but have had no success to date,” says Didomenico.

“Our centre has a long waiting list, so every new space matters,” he says, adding that imposing what amounts to a “head tax” on toddlers and the creation of safe, regulated, licensed day care spaces is "pure greed," bad public policy and shows a lack of leadership by elected officials.

“It’s ridiculous,” says Didomenico, who took his frustration and concerns to council March 6, asking it to exercise its authoritative discretion to do the “socially responsible” and “right thing," especially in light of the fact the province acknowledges the demand for spaces is not being met, with only 20 per cent of children up to four year old in Ontario in licensed child care.

He also asked when an alteration ceases to be substantial, adding he has had no clarification from town staff on the matter to date.

The town declined to comment until a staff report is tabled to council April 3, in which justification will be provided regarding its determination of substantial.

Although York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney was unable to speak to the specifics of the application, she did say that cutting red tape and regulatory burden has been a key pillar of the PC government's mandate, with "significant impact" already being made with the passing of Bill 47-- Making Ontario Open for Business Act.