Dear Editor
I am writing to thank Phil McNichol for his November 7th Sun Times article on Owen Sound's need to restructure. Mr. McNichol and others have written on this subject on several occasions over the last number of years. In reviewing the local government archives as well as media outlets, it's clear that sustainability of local and regional government services have been a public concern for some time. Unfortunately nothing has happened to address this problem because local and regional government leaders lacked either a broader vision or did not see the need for change.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the tax paying public in Owen Sound and surrounding municipalities will no longer tolerate this detached attitude by elected representative .The public would like municipal service delivery fundamentally re-examined to determine whether they are efficiently provided in the adjacent municipal governments and whether those governments are actively working together to reduce service costs. Previous efforts in this regard appear to have failed because local governments did not see the need for change and in some cases actively worked against needed change. As a result we have missed in securing regional infrastructure funding opportunities and have pursued economic development in a very local and fragmented way. Consequently the taxes paid to local governments have been ineffectively deployed.
Presently Owen Sound funds it's own police service whereas surrounding municipalities are contracted with the OPP. A 2010 Statistics Canada policing study showed that Owen Sound deployed 18 police officers per 10,000 residents; while the comparable number for Georgian Bluffs was 8 and, Meaford was at 11. This suggests that the Owen Sound policing costs need to be fundamentally re-examined. Once that is complete, efforts should be made to develop a single cost effective police service for Owen Sound and at least parts of both Georgian Bluffs and Meaford. It's ironic that urban and shopping areas west of Owen Sound and the east side of the sound to Annan are not consolidated into logical and more effective policing area. Local governments have been unable to even look objectively at the costs and benefits of change here, and in some cases have actively opposed any consideration of reasonable alternatives.
Based on a 2013 municipal study by BMA, fire services in Owen Sound cost $2,397 per $100,000 property assessment; Georgian Bluff's costs were $364; Medford's costs were $441;Georgian Bluff's costs were $364; and Saugeen Shore's costs were $379. As with policing, Owen Sound's fire service costs need to be critically re-examined. After that, the rest of the local governments, together with Owen Sound, need to look at whether a cost effective regional approach to fire services can be developed.
The land area of Owen Sound is only 24 square kilometers, one of the smallest in Ontario. It is the sad result of a dysfunctional reconfiguration two decades ago. The population density of Owen Sound is 917 per square kilometer while the density of Meaford is 19, and Saugeen Shores is 79. These figures dramatically underline the imbalance caused by present municipal boundaries. The present municipal boundaries need to be changed!
The 2013 BMA municipal study showed that Owen Sound's household income was $61,415; while Georgian Bluff's income was $93,555 and Meaford's was $75,835. These differences can be partly explained by the large number of Owen Sound's professional population lives in adjacent areas. Owen Sound has a significantly larger proportion of its working population (compared to the provincial average) in-migrating from adjacent areas. The contrast of the Georgian Bluff's and Owen Sound's household income underlines the scale of this daily in migration. We all know of financial service professionals, doctors, health care workers, philanthropic staff, and Owen Sound municipal staff who work in Owen Sound but pay their taxes elsewhere. This is clearly inequitable and must change.
Consequently Owen Sound delivers municipal services to a proximal population of almost 35,000, which is paid for, by the Owen Sound population of 22,000.
Overtime the inefficient use of tax dollars by adjacent municipal governments will not only disadvantage their own taxpayers but also result poorer outcomes in adjacent municipalities. There are only so many regional tax dollars.
Presently, our region is serviced by two under utilized airports that are within 25 kilometers of each other. Does it make sense to continue with two? Recently Georgian Bluffs purchased one half of the Wiarton airport from the Town of Wiarton. Apparently little economic analysis was performed prior to acquisition with an undertaking that a business plan would be developed after the close of the acquisition. Members of the public were unsuccessful in getting a hearing prior to the acquisition. The $600,000 expenditure could have been used more effectively to fund regional infrastructure that is needed or to fund regional economic development initiatives. Consequently both the taxpayers of Georgian Bluffs and residents in the region are being disadvantaged in the medium to long term.
The process of looking at municipal government structure and service delivery will involve both time and hard work, which may take a decade to complete. The public in these adjacent municipalities lack unbiased information and studies, which they can rely on to begin recommending, and pushing for needed reforms. We are in the process of organizing The Future Georgian Sound Society to engage the public and to begin to deliver information that the public will need to press for change and to hold their elected representatives accountable. The by-laws will stipulate that the Society will not advocate a specific alternative, but rather ensure that alternatives are completely and fairly evaluated. We encourage the public in Owen Sound, Georgian Bluffs and Meaford to get involved. We can be reached at:
(226) 909-0501 or at [email protected]
