'It was a distraction': Newmarket mayor pleased provincial government cancels audit of its books

Mayor John Taylor hopes Queen's Park will also reverse course on cutting development charges on new growth, especially for subsidized housing

yorkregion.com
Dec. 15, 2023
Lisa Queen

As part of its decision to backtrack on dismantling the Region of Peel amid fears it would hike taxes, reduce services and cut jobs, the provincial government has also announced it is abandoning its audits of Newmarket’s books and the finances of five other municipalities.

Queen’s Park announced in May it would appoint auditors to comb through Newmarket’s financial books after council said it wouldn’t sign the province’s pledge to accommodate 12,000 new homes by 2031 as part of the government’s campaign to build 1.5 million to address the housing crisis.

While the town said it’s in favour of new housing for all income levels, it insisted it was impossible to meet the 12,000 goal because it didn’t have the necessary sewage capacity after successive governments failed to approve a wastewater solution for Newmarket, Aurora and East Gwillimbury.

The province has now said wastewater from the towns will go to Lake Ontario after treatment, rather than Lake Simcoe.

The Region of York had spent $100 million on the Upper York Sewage Solution that would have seen wastewater treated and put in Lake Simcoe.

When Newmarket refused to sign the housing pledge, the province also said it would not give Mayor John Taylor strong mayor powers, which Taylor said he didn’t want anyway because he’d rather lead by consensus.

Auditor Ernst and Young was about halfway through its audit of Newmarket’s books when the province said on Dec. 13 it was abandoning it.

Audits of Toronto, Peel Region, Mississauga, Caledon and Brampton were also cancelled.

While John Taylor had said Newmarket had nothing to hide and didn’t have piles of money sitting around, he’s happy the audit has been stopped.

“I didn’t support the audits to begin with because, frankly, we’re stretched incredibly thin just trying to manage through our budget processes and trying to focus on building more housing, trying to focus on a lot of emerging challenges. We’ve got large, significant projects like the Mulock Park we need to focus on to make sure it’s advancing properly and efficiently. So, to me, it was a distraction,” he said.

“I have to say I congratulate the province making from what I can see from a preliminary read (of the government’s wide-ranging announcement Dec. 13), the changes are largely, if not all, in the right direction ... I’ve been deeply concerned about the financial viability municipalities and cities five and 10 years out as a result of the changing economy, interest rates, construction costs and Bill 23.”

Instead of following through with the audits, the province said it will consult with municipalities on the impacts of the More Homes Built Faster Act and cities’ and towns’ ability to fund growth-related infrastructure that will support the construction of more homes, including a review of the five-year phase-in of development charge increases and fee refund framework.

“Looking ahead, we’ll continue to work with our municipal partners to ensure that they have the tools and revenue streams needed to get shovels in the ground. As we do, we need the federal government to be a willing and able partner in supporting our province’s growth,” Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra said.

Taylor is welcoming a potential review by the province to reduce the development charges municipalities can charge on new growth. That money is used to fund amenities such as roads, sewers and recreation facilities.

As chair of Housing York, Taylor said it’s critical the government reverse its decision not to allow development charges for subsidized housing.

“If we’re talking about affordable housing and the most vulnerable in our society around affordable housing, it’s those who access subsidized. I’m hoping to see that amended through this (provincial review),” Taylor said.