Barrie councillors gather this evening (Dec. 11) for their last scheduled meetings of 2024.
Finance and responsible governance committee is to meet at 4:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, followed by general committee at 5 p.m. and city council at 7 p.m.
At finance committee, councillors will consider the internal audit status update for the third and fourth quarters of 2024.
One matter at hand is the value-for-money audit of Barrie Public Library, which received $9.8 million in city money this year.
The audit concluded the Barrie Public Library is generally operating in an economical, efficient and effective manner — although the review identified areas of improvement to further increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the library’s processes and procedures.
The Barrie Public Library has branches in the city’s downtown, and in the Painswick and Holly areas of the city. It employs 40 full-time staff and 57 part-timers, according to the audit.
Sitting in general committee, councillors will also consider a motion to have city legal staff begin negotiations to acquire the property identified as part of water lots 26 and 27, in front of 185 Dunlop St. E., in Kempenfelt Bay.
But should these negotiations be unsuccessful, legal staff would be authorized to start expropriation proceedings for this property, for the purposes of expanding and enhancing the public waterfront in accordance with the city’s Official Plan, its waterfront and marina strategic plan and the 2023 waterfront strategic plan update.
The province generally defines expropriation as taking land without the consent of the owner by an expropriating authority, in this case the City of Barrie, in the exercise of its statutory powers.
The motion also includes a new capital project for the acquisition or expropriation of this property and the potential future acquisitions of other waterfront properties, with a budget of $500,000 — to be funded from the city’s tax capital reserve.
And to provide staff with the ability to negotiate the acquisition of water lots along the shore of Kempenfelt Bay, within the North Shore Trail system, beginning with the acquisition of these two water lots.
Council will consider final approval to a tax-supported base budget for 2025 city operations, and the infrastructure investment fund, with gross expenditures of $342.6 million, a net property tax levy requirement of $197.8 million, and no increase in property taxes for the city’s portion of operations.
It pays for more than 60 city services such as firefighting, snow clearing, road repairs, garbage pick-up, transit, parks and recreation, and water treatment.
Included in these approvals, however, is the city’s infrastructure investment levy, or capital rehabilitation tax, which is to increase by two per cent next year — costing the typical Barrie home with an assessed value of $369,000, and paying $4,994 in property taxes, another $99.88 in 2025.
It also adds $6.4 million to city coffers — half for tax-based infrastructure, to repair and replace Barrie’s roads, pipes, buildings and bridges, the other half for stormwater infrastructure.
And the same typical home using 180 cubic metres of water/sewer would pay an annual water bill of $420, $16 more in 2025 than this year, and $615 for sewer, or $28.87 more than 2024.
So $99.88, plus $16 and $28.87, equals $144.75 more for that typical Barrie homeowner next year.
Councillors have yet to deal with the Barrie Police Services budget, which asks for an increase of almost seven per cent in 2025, and the County of Simcoe, which provides Barrie with services such as social housing, paramedics, long-term care and Ontario Works, then charges the city its share of these costs.
Policing and county services costs are expected to result in a property tax increase for Barrie homeowners in 2025.
Last but certainly not least, council will hear a presentation by Hemson Consulting on a joint land needs analysis. It also involves the townships of Oro-Medonte and Springwater, along with the County of Simcoe.
The study is intended to determine the need for additional employment and/or residential land within and around the city, Oro-Medonte and Springwater.
Each council will consider a motion to receive the study and consider asking Hemson to prepare a work plan to complete a more detailed analysis of the options for further consideration by all involved. This work plan is to serve as a foundation for further discussions.
At this point, Hemson says Barrie likely has sufficient employment area land to meet long-term demands through 2051, and that Springwater and Oro-Medonte have sufficient long-term employment land up to 2051.
The Dec. 11 meetings are to be held at Barrie City Hall, 70 Collier St., and are open to the public and available online.
Councillors are scheduled to meet again Jan. 8, 2025.
