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2024:

A Big Year for the Town

As we enter 2024, our new Town Council has now passed its one year anniversary.


We are looking to them to more fully put their stamp on managing the Town, and planning for its future.


There has definitely been progress on some of the Town’s priority items, but there’s a substantial amount of work ahead.


We are also asking Council to clearly and consistently communicate their shared priorities. This has not been effectively done to date in our view.


In this note, we set out the most pressing matters

But first, a short ask:

Our 2024 Priorities

The Budget

The 2024 budget is the first that is fully under this Council’s control.


Our Budget Review Committee has worked with Council and Staff to provide our perspective on the spending decisions they must address. Overall, we have been pushing Council to make some tough decisions on core services which must be appropriately funded, versus the "nice-to do's" which in this economic and inflationary time should not be supported.


We are also looking for confirmation that the Town is well positioned to fund the investment demands related to our growth.


It would appear that the message of prudence has been taken to heart, as the initially proposed 9.6% 2024 tax levy increase has been reduced to about 2.5%.


We will provide our budget analysis over the next couple weeks to get into the details, and explain how our input has been incorporated.

Corporate Structure Review

This Review is being conducted to identify:

  • which services the Town should be delivering to meet its mandate, while  controlling Townhall's scope and spending;

  • how best to structure the Town's personnel resources, and

  • determine if there are capability gaps that need to be filled.


If this project is executed properly we should be seeing some reasonably substantial changes to the Town's staffing and operational practices.  The costs to implement the Review’s recommendations will impact the final budget.


These costs should be clearly reflected in the Town’s 2024 Proposed Budget and Supplemental Information.  They were not, and they should have been.


The recommendations will be introduced in Q1.  There will be upfront implementation costs which are expected to produce significant savings in subsequent years. We'll be monitoring progress carefully.

Official Plan Review (OPR)

The Official Plan Review to be completed this year.


This Planning Strategy document will:

  • determine our community's housing needs as we continue dealing with our rapid growth;

  • update and define development controls and guidelines; and

  • ensure the cultural, environmental and economic sustainability of the Town of Blue Mountains is not compromised.


It is a critically important initiative, and we will work with Townhall and our membership throughout the process to represent your interests and keep you informed of the key decisions to be made.

Attainable Housing: Goals & Strategies

Clarity on Attainable Housing Goals and Strategies.


Four years ago, the Town launched the Gateway Project, a program to provide much needed attainable housing for our community.  For a variety of reasons, Gateway never got off the ground.


TBM's need for rental housing is only getting more urgent.  We’ve previously stated that this Council needs to demonstrate that - in conjunction with Town Staff -  a viable housing plan can be developed and implemented.


We must see material & meaningful progress this year.

Protecting Our Environment

What we are looking to the Town to demonstrate;

  • practical, cost effective actions that can appropriately be implemented at the local level

  • recognition that control of drainage issues and protecting our wetlands and tree coverage are the two most important environmental priorities

Progress on the Campus of Care

Council must confirm the path forward on this project, and provide transparency in sharing financial implications for Town ratepayers - ie, "what will we be on the hook for, what if any is our exposure".

Infrastructure: Timelines & Budgets

Building out the Town's Infrastructure, and Staying on Course with Construction Timelines and Capital Budgets


The town urgently needs new infrastructure: roads, water and more.


The challenges presented by rampant construction inflation, and a lack of available construction resources, have been well documented. The Town has upped its game with regard to capital project management, but there remains a significant backlog of capital projects needing to be executed.

Grey County’s financial strain on TBM

40% of our tax dollars go directly to Grey County.


The County is hitting Grey municipalities with a 6% tax increase in 2024, and our concern is that may just be the start of an acceleration of the burden placed on TBM.


We need our County Council representatives, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, to forcibly push our Town's interests with Grey.


Our view is that collaboration is ideal where possible in dealing with County matters, but it must be recognized the other Municipalities will all be pushing their own agendas, and often they are not aligned with TBM's interests and needs. 

In Summary

2024 is shaping up to be a pivotal year in determining the future character and quality of life for our Town.

Please share your thoughts with us!

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  • forward this email to any friends or neighbours who share your interest in the Town.


THANK YOU!

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