Richmond Hill council recap: Tax hike, Jefferson Schoolhouse, climate change and more

An average Richmond Hill homeowner will pay an additional $14 on the municipal portion of their annual tax bill

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 18, 2020
Sheila Wang

Richmond Hill council rubber stamped a number of important decisions at the Feb. 12 council meeting, where residents applauded, booed and in some cases left halfway through.

It was the second council meeting of the new year and the decision-makers took their time to tackle some of the key and controversial issues, including on the operating budget, the fate of a heritage building, and the funding for community groups.

Operating budget

Homeowners will pay an additional $14 on the municipal portion of their property tax bill. An average home in Richmond Hill is valued at $1.15 million.

Council adopted a $185-million operating budget for 2020, which represents a 0.73 increase to the municipal portion of the total property tax bill.

Last year, residents in Richmond Hill saw a 2.07-per-cent tax increase, which was the lowest over the previous five years, according to the town.

This year's budget shows the city identified about $2.8 million in total savings through reducing costs or staff changes, including over $300,000 spared through staff changes in the public library and more than $100,000 saved by discontinuing regular advertising in The Liberal newspaper.

The city will no longer regularly advertise community events, open houses and upcoming meetings in the two-page Bulletin Board in the newspaper in an effort to cut costs.

No more grants to community groups

Council decided to discontinue its annual community and cultural program, which provides a $65,000 funding to selected community groups and individuals every year.

The decision drew boos and gasps from the audience members, most of who attended the meeting in response to an earlier request from council for them to validate their applications for public money.

At the Jan. 22 council meeting, Coun. Greg Beros introduced the motion to not approve the grants on the grounds that council “shouldn’t hand out tax dollars” to community groups on behalf of the residents.

This year, staff selected 20 community groups and individuals out of a total of 34 applications to receive a maximum of $5,000 if council gave the go-ahead.

They included Alzheimer Society of York Region, Opera York and Richmond Hill United Church.

Mayor Dave Barrow alongside councillors Godwin Chan and Castro Liu, who were in favour of the community grants, were outvoted at the meeting, where councillors David West and Karen Cilevitz recused themselves after each declaring an “indirect pecuniary interest.”

Climate change actions

The city is set to take more actions on climate change.

Council voted unanimously to develop a corporate climate change framework and community energy and emissions plan.

The decision was made after representatives from local environmental groups called for “real actions” on climate change before council.

The motion, introduced by Coun. David West, brought forward a list of programs and actions for the city to consider, such as setting greenhouse emission reduction targets and time frame for Richmond Hill as well as electrification of some of the city’s vehicles.

It came exactly eight months after West's push for the declaration of a climate emergency failed to win the support of the majority of council last summer.

The fate of Jefferson Schoolhouse

Councillors voted to turn down a demolition request for the 151-year-old Jefferson Schoolhouse and asked staff to look at all options of preserving the heritage building.

While council unanimously approved the denial of the permit, three councillors cast dissenting votes on the last part of the motion, which directed staff to look into the feasibility of purchasing the heritage building for the purpose of “converting it back into” a schoolhouse.

Following Coun. Tom Muench’s comment against purchasing the building with public money, Regional Coun. Carmine Perrelli amended his motion by adding “exploring alternative options” to preserve the building.

The decision came less than two weeks away from the final deadline for approval of the demolition permit requested by the property owner Rashid Mordadi, who runs a printing business in the former schoolhouse.