Post-budget commentary by members of Oxford County Council

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Echo reached out to each member of council following the spirited debate last week to get their thoughts when they had some time to reflect on the final budget. Only five of ten elected officials responded and here are their replies.

Marcus Ryan – Oxford County Warden and Zorra Township Mayor

Ryan, who voted in favour of the budget, said he was disappointed with the overall tone of the meeting.

“I take some blame for it and at one point I did interject in the meeting to say let’s be careful of our language. It is our job to disagree with each other and debate. There are reasonable things about which reasonable people can disagree and that’s frankly our job, but when we get heated, we are sending a tone for our staff and for our community that I don’t think is helpful.”

Ryan explained he approaches every budget with the lens of sitting down with a neighbour or someone at the arena and how he would talk to them about it.

“For people in Woodstock, for instance, they are going to see a $69 a month increase for the average assessed home. That works out to $6 a month which is about two double doubles a month…almost exactly half of that is long-term care, paramedic services and South West Public Health which, in my opinion, should not be on a property tax bill.”

He added when housing is added in, it amounts to 65 per cent of the increase to taxpayers, another line item that should not be included in a municipal budget.

“Ontario is the only province in Ontario where housing is funded by municipal property taxes. So, if you take all of those out, instead of $69 dollars you are left with $15, a two per cent increase which is almost exactly what inflation is.”

Ryan said unless people want the county to cut core services, it is difficult to come up with a smaller tax hike. He added some of the newly created position at the county will pay dividends.

“Some of the positions approve included an energy analyst. We spend millions of dollars a year on electricity, gas, diesel, propane, etc. Analysing that, saving one per cent on that, you are going to pay for that person’s salary.”

Jerry Acchione – Woodstock Mayor

Acchione, who voted against the budget, said elected officials have a responsibility to residents to prioritize needs over wants.

“Every dollar we allocated should have reflected what is essential for the community, not simply what is desirable. Our residents are tightening their belts, and I feel they expect their municipal leaders to do the same, especially this budget cycle. I don’t feel that was done at County Council on Wednesday by increasing their levy by nearly $7 million dollars that every resident of Oxford County is going to feel.”

He added in these challenging economic times, with direct local impacts like the shutdown of production at CAMI, fiscal prudence is not just good governance, it’s a necessity.

“We know many people have found themselves suddenly out of work and there is no certainty about when things will turn around or if more ripple effects might still be coming. Our focus must remain on maintaining core services and supporting stability for our residents, rather than adding discretionary items that increase financial strain even further.”

Deb Tait – Woodstock City/County Councillor

Tait was critical of the warden's public comments that the tax increase was only $77 per residence outside of Woodstock and $69 in the city which is only two Tim Hortons coffees per month.

“Only people who can afford to buy coffee at Timmies use that type of financial reasoning. Same as saying that spending an extra $100,000 is a very small percentage of a $400 million county budget. You can make any expense sound small enough if you compare it to a giant number. What he didn’t say was that when you add a $77 increase to whatever the tax increase for the township or cities, you get a tax increase that is more than a day’s take home pay for many people.”

She said with the recent closure of Cami, statistics show for every job lost in manufacturing or the car industry counts for eight jobs lost with the trickle-down effect.

“We are in dire economic times and the increases in taxes the past three years is not sustainable nor is it responsible governance for those that put their trust in their elected officials. With these increases year after year its making life extremely difficult for the citizens of Oxford County. I question what it is we doing for the taxpayer with all these increases.”

She added Coun. Bernia Martin mentioned a number of times during the meeting when adding more staff about life/work balance concerns.

“That is a slap in the face for all those working in the private sector and not only do they have work whatever hours is required-but not all have a full pension or benefits on top of that.”

Deb Gilvesy – Tillsonburg Mayor

Gilvesy, who voted against a number of new jobs at the county, is having a hard tough stomaching tax increases year over year.

“I’m disappointed that the county levy began at 7.3 per cent and ultimately rose to 7.7 per cent, resulting in a 5.3 per cent tax increase for all residents outside Woodstock, and 5.2 per cent for Woodstock due to their independent library service.”

She added recent tax hikes by the county are far beyond economic reality.

“With the loss of a major employer, residents choosing between food and heat, and rising reliance on food banks, this was the time for fiscal restraint, not further pressure on ratepayers. The path forward must focus on core services and essential infrastructure, reinforcing discipline and accountability.”

Gilvesy said staffing growth at the county has outpaced actual population growth by more than threefold.

“As of gate keepers of the public purse we must listen to what our constituents are saying and what I am hearing does not align with an over 5 per cent tax increase. For these reasons and more, I could not support this budget.”

Phil Schaefer - East Zorra-Tavistock Mayor

Schaefer, who approved the budget, said Oxford County provides many critical services like paramedics, housing, water and wastewater, among others, and he defended voting in favour of the budget.

“All these critical services are experiencing increases in demand and consequently increases in funding requirements. Council provided a responsible budget to address these increased needs, and many needs from other departments, with a modest tax increase. Twenty-three amendments were tabled to amend the budget, and council robustly debated these to come up with the approved budget.”

He added the budget provided was a plan to improve the ambulance response times in the northern part of the county, with funding for an additional ambulance and paramedics.

“The increased demand for all our services is occurring at a time of many challenges in our local economy, and that fact was not lost on council. There were many differences of opinion expressed during the budget debate, but each member demonstrated their desire to act in the best interests of all Oxford County residents.”

Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie did send an email saying he didn’t have anything to add to his thoughts during last week’s budget meeting.