$1.76 billion. 4.8 per cent. And 2030.
First: $1.76 billion
That’s the capital spending the plan models over the next ten years: roads, pipes, plants and facilities.
| Where it goes | 10-year capital |
|---|---|
| Supported by property taxes | $706 million |
| Water | $432 million |
| Wastewater | $619 million |
| Total | about $1.76 billion |
Just over a billion dollars of that is for water and wastewater. That tells you where this town’s biggest pressures are. We’re growing, and the systems that serve that growth are expensive to build.
Second: 4.8 per cent a year
That’s the average property-tax increase the plan shows, every year from 2027 to 2035.
That number does not include your water and sewer bill. Those are forecast separately, at about 6.8 per cent a year for water and about 5 per cent a year for wastewater.
Even those numbers leave something out: the cost of running the expanded treatment plants once they’re built. That still has to be added.
Third: 2030
The Province limits how much of a municipality’s own revenue can go to debt payments each year. That limit is 25 per cent. Under today’s assumptions, 2030 is the year the Town’s debt payments go past it.
To be fair
This is a baseline. It is not an approved spending plan. It shows the pressure from everything that’s currently on the table: roads, sewer, water mains, recreation and a possible arts centre.
And I’m glad we have it. A plan like this is exactly what the next Council should build on. Collingwood has a professional staff and good financial tools. My approach is to use them, not to start over with another study.
What it means: hard choices
Collingwood isn’t a big city. We can’t buy our way out of every problem. So the next Council has four questions to answer, project by project:
- What must we do?
- What can we afford?
- What should growth and partners help pay for?
- And what, unfortunately, must wait?
What I’d do as mayor
These come straight from my plan for Collingwood’s finances (PP04: Building a Financially Sustainable Collingwood):
- Start from the facts. In the first 100 days, review the long-term financial plan, the Asset Management Plan, reserves, debt capacity and Development Charges, and give residents a public Council briefing on where we actually stand.
- Growth must help pay for growth. Development Charges and other tools should cover a fair share of the new pipes and plants, so existing taxpayers aren’t subsidizing growth they didn’t ask for.
- Borrow responsibly. Debt is the right tool for long-lived infrastructure, as long as it stays affordable and transparent. A plan that crosses the provincial limit in 2030 needs attention now, not in 2029.
- Judge big projects on lifecycle cost. What does it cost to build and to run for 30 years? The treatment-plant operating costs are exactly the kind of number Council should see before it decides.
- Chase every grant and partnership. Every provincial and federal dollar we secure is one that doesn’t come from local taxpayers.
- Make the budget easier to follow. Starting with the 2028 operating budget, bring in zero-based review where it’s practical, so spending keeps matching Council’s priorities.
Why this is my kind of work
I’ve spent 30 years planning roads, water systems and wastewater systems for towns like ours. Reading a capital plan and asking “what does this cost to run, and who pays for it?” is what I do. That’s the work I want to do as your mayor.
Take a look at my full plan for Collingwood’s finances, and tell me what you think: norm@norm4mayor.ca or 705-445-8384.
Online voting runs October 8 to 26. Election day is Monday, October 26.
— Norm