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Orangeville budget reflects town’s increasing capital needs: CAO

December 12, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Orangeville’s capital budget is rooted in best practices buoyed by evidence-based decisions.

That’s how Cheryl Braan, the town’s treasurer, characterized the capital portion of the 2025 operating and capital budget when council met on Dec. 9. A second meeting was held on Dec. 10 to discuss the operating portion of the municipal spending plan for next year.

The 2025 budget initially proposed a tax levy of about $45 million, which has a tax impact of 6.6 per cent. But council decided Dec. 9 to remove from the proposed capital plan a fire hall furniture project and a fire hall master plan was deferred.

That whittled $125,000 from the proposed spending plan for a tax levy increase of 6.3 per cent. On average, that’s a $212 increase for residential property owners next year.

Tim Kocialek, the town’s infrastructure services general manager, identified five key capital projects next year. Included is a transportation master plan, a road resurfacing program, water system filter media rehabilitation, and water treatment, rehabilitation, and optimization.

Also included is road reconstruction of Third Avenue, Andrew Street, Bythia Street, Dufferin Street and Steven Street.

Heather Savage, the town’s community services general manager, said her department has five key projects.

Building conditions will be assessed and the seven-phase Rotary Park redevelopment will continue. The fire department needs a new fire truck and the town hopes to undertake a recreation block box replacement program. Tree sculptures and banner poles throughout Orangeville are also on the wish list.

Savage said there are about 45 projects under the umbrella of those five areas.

“The corporate services capital budget is a reflection of projects that are of strategic importance, deliver on our legislative compliance requirements, and are critical,” said Antonietta Minichillo, corporate services general manager for the town.

“The nature of the work that [the] corporate services team delivers is really an enabler to other teams to do their work by delivering essential support functions.”

Key projects for 2025 include updating the suite of websites associated with the town, enterprise asset management, and a Dayforce optimization and enhancement initiative.

David Smith, the town’s CAO, said he’s seen many positive changes in Orangeville over the last 30 years. And he’s reminded, he said, of the responsibility to be stewards for the next 30 years.

“What will our legacy be?” he said.

Will the town’s infrastructure be in good repair and properly funded or will the future council need to catch up for years of underfunding?

“Today and tomorrow we need safe reliable water, good roads and sidewalks, well-maintained infrastructure such as recreation facilities, libraries, parks, emergency services and municipal buildings,” Smith said. “Being able to fund and maintain these does not happen by hope.”

He said the town’s staff, with council’s support, are building a plan to ensure the community will be as livable 30 years from now as it is today.

“And that takes difficult decisions today to make sure we’re prepared for 30 years and beyond,” Smith said.

The town’s 2025 capital budget has about 175 “investments in our community,” he said. “It is a lot and reflects our increasing need to make these investments.”

The many road projects undertaken this year are indicative of how asset management will be critical for years.

“The projects presented tonight are workload manageable and ones that we can reasonably afford,” Smith said.

Braan said the town is challenged to balance short-term and operating needs with long-term investments in public amenities and critical infrastructure.

“Our collective goal is to build a long-term sustainable capital program that meets strategic objectives of the town while following best practices in asset management that are underpinned with evidence-based decision making,” Braan said.

The town’s capital budget for next year comprises a tab of about $72.4 million in spending. That’s made up of about $44 million in projects carried forward from past years and about $29 million in new staff requests.

“Overall, 60 per cent of planned expenditures in 2025 is represented by carried-forward initiatives,” she said. “And the remaining 40 per cent represents new initiatives or additional funding towards projects that are already underway.”

She said that’s “a relative improvement” over last year which had a split of about 75 per cent in carried-forward projects.

“This implies that staff are successfully working down the backlog of capital projects that previously existed and are making improvements in estimating what can get done in a given year,” Braan said.

She said that about 71 per cent of planned spending for next year is on infrastructure services and 25 per cent is on community services. The remaining four per cent goes toward corporate services and corporate allocations.

“Last year, staff set a goal of tackling a backlog of projects prior to seeking more funding towards new initiatives and then carried this approach into 2025,” she said.

The four largest areas account for about 86 per cent of planned investments for next year. About 37 per cent is driven by public works and another 28 per cent is for water services. The fire department comprises 14 per cent and parks projects make up seven per cent.

“Almost half of the program expenditures are funded by the town’s property tax base,” Braan said. “With 34 per cent or $24.4 million planned to be funded from tax-supported reserves and another 15 per cent or $10.8 million through tax-supported debt.”

About a third of the capital funding requirement comes from user rate reserves and user rate debt, she said. Eight per cent of the funding needs will come from development charges.

“Infrastructure funding programs and third-party recoveries comprise the remaining $8.4 million in funding needs for 2025,” she said.

The four largest areas needing attention as part of a 10-year capital work plan are Public Works, water, wastewater, and the fire department. That plan is “front-end loaded” with about two-thirds of the work planned for the first five years, she said.

“We know that as we move further out into the forecast, estimates can be a little softer,” she said. “And staff acknowledge that more work needs to be done to prioritize work between the first half and the second half of the capital program.”

She said staff intends to undertake a comprehensive debt management strategy as part of the integrated long-term financial plan next year. That financial plan consists of a debt management strategy complemented by an investment strategy. Staff will work on a growth optimization strategy as part of that plan.

“This work will help put guidelines in place to ensure the town is able to manage its debt levels strategically over the longer term,” she said.

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