Divided Richmond Hill council approves 4.2% tax hike

Emotional discussion results in demand for apology


Yorkregion.com
March 3, 2015
By Kim Zarzour

Richmond Hill residents will pay 4.2 per cent more in municipal property taxes this year, something a majority of councillors say is necessary to maintain town services and keep up with skyrocketing growth.

The increase, narrowly passed in a 5-4 vote by council last night, means a citizen owning a home worth an average $600,000 will pay an additional $55 to the town in 2015.

With York Region and school board taxes factored in, Richmond Hill homeowners will see a 2.6 per cent overall property tax increase.

“Like anybody else, I’m not crazy about paying taxes [and] I do worry about the seniors,” said Ward 4 Councillor David West. “But residents have said to me ... services are important to Richmond Hill and this budget addresses that.”

West said residents have asked for services incorporated in the 2015 budget such as better bylaw compliance, security in parks after hours, improved tree pruning and ability to allow kids with special needs to be integrated in camps.

“No one’s happy about a tax increase, but if we start cutting beyond this, we’re going to be looking at reduced service levels.”

“Our town has grown,” added Ward 5 Councillor Karen Cilevitz. “We have exponential growth in our residents and we will have more and more and this in itself becomes a base pressure and as a result we have more parks, more roads, greater garbage collection, roads to be plowed. In order to maintain our services, unfortunately there has to be a rise in the tax rate.”

The operating budget of $148.9 million reflects about 61 per cent revenue from property taxes - a portion that has been decreasing over the years, while user fees and fines have been increasing, David Dexter, director of financial services, said.

Dexter said other municipalities in the GTA are going through the same budget approval process and Richmond Hill’s figures are on par with what others are proposing or approved, ranging from 2.35 per cent local increase proposed for Oakville to 8.5 per cent proposed for East Gwillimbury.

But not all councillors agreed with the budget as presented at the special council meeting.

Ward 1 Councillor Greg Beros asked for more budget details to find additional savings, saying residents may accept some service reductions.

Ward 6 Councillor Godwin Chan urged council to delay the vote to encourage staff to find ways to reduce the property tax rate to 2.5 per cent.

Chan also called for a study into the feasibility of adding new services: eliminating fees for senior clubs using town facilities, providing each councillor with individual budgets for support staff, and providing snow windrow removal for all properties.

Regional Councillor Vito Spatafora spoke against Chan’s motion. The new services would add costs, he said, while at the same time, Chan is expecting staff to cut.

Details of the budget and a “line-by-line” description have been available to any councillor throughout the lengthy budget consultation process, he said.

Councillor for Ward 2, Tom Muench, criticized the budget for raising Richmond Hill property taxes at double the rate of inflation, but Dexter said the town faces different costs than homeowners, related to hydro, commercial software, road salts, stone and gravel, increasing at higher rates than inflation.

“A municipality is a different basket of goods,” he said.

With Chan’s motion defeated by a majority of councillors, Muench put forward a motion to refer the budget back to staff to find an additional five per cent in savings.

Chief Administrative Officer Joan Anderton warned that the reduction would impact service levels and existing employees.

“We have a very lean staff complement. If you look at other municipalities providing similar services, we have a lower per capita head count than any of our neighbouring municipalities.”
Those warnings about staff cuts amount to “fear mongering”, Muench responded.

Anderton, who is retiring this year after 10 years of service, took exception to that statement and asked for an apology from Muench.

“The procedure bylaw of the Town of Richmond Hill permits me the right to speak at council if I believe that staff’s integrity is being impugned by the commentary of a member of council.”
Muench apologized.

The town has held several public budget consultations, beginning with a chamber of commerce meeting Jan. 16 followed by an information booth at Hillcrest Mall and regular meetings at town hall on a departmental basis that were open to residents.

While no residents appeared in council chambers last night and few voiced concerns in the months leading up to the final vote, Chan and Muench said they heard from many residents upset about property taxes.

“They think we are so out of line. They’re furious,” Muench said.

“You guys are killing the town,” he said, referring to municipal staff. “We cannot afford this. And the staff that are in their positions today will not be able to be in their positions 10 years from now. Look at Detroit. Look at a number of different municipalities. This trend is a disaster.”

Voting in favour of the 2015 budget were Mayor Dave Barrow and councillors West, Cilevitz, Brenda Hogg and Spatafora, while those opposed were councillors Beros, Muench, Chan and Castro Liu.