Newmarket Mayor John Taylor faced some tough questions about spending last night from the local watchdogs of the public purse.
Admittedly, the Town’s top political boss said he holds a different philosophical perspective on some of the concerns raised by Newmarket Taxpayers Advocacy Group (NTAG) members during an hour-long, question-and-answer session at Madsen’s Greenhouse Banquet and Chapel.
Even though Taylor and the 30 or so residents at the event agreed to disagree at times, a frank discussion ensued about the perception of “unnecessary and excessive” spending at the Town, from the lack of public consultation on the $24-million purchase of the historic Mulock Estate property and rising property taxes, to outsourcing of Town work to consultants and severance packages for outgoing politicians.
The event was hosted by the taxpayers’ group and moderated by its past-president, Teena Bogner.
Taylor fielded a series of 15 questions, including one about Town spending on staff, parties, gifts, and meals on the taxpayer's dime.
“We’ll probably agree and disagree, but the part we’ll agree on is that I think it’s important to bring a sense of frugality and respect for taxpayers’ dollars to whatever we do, but I don’t think that means you don’t do anything for your staff,” Taylor said. “The part I disagree with is the level to which we engage our staff in events or team-building.”
Taylor explained that the Town spends about $20,000 to $25,000 a year engaging staff and rewarding them for a job well done. In an organization of about 500 full-time and part-time staff and with an annual operational budget of about $120 million, he doesn’t believe that’s out of line.
“I believe that having strong staff, having an organization that feels enthusiastic and respected and part of something, I think there’s great value in that,” Taylor said. “And we’ve got to think about the return we get on that investment. A barbecue for our staff may cost $1,000, but it gives them an opportunity to get out and chat with each other and they feel good. That can go a long way. Sometimes we have major events or emergencies, our staff jumps in because they care and are invested.”
With regard to the Town’s purchase of the Mulock Estate at the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Mulock Drive, Taylor said that as deputy mayor and regional councillor at the time, it was “the easiest decision” he ever made.
“I would be willing to bet right now, in 30 years, in 15 years, there isn’t too many people out there that would say the investment was a bad idea, it will be there forever,” he said, of the property that is slated to be developed into a year-round Central Park-type green space for community use. “We got good value.”
Taylor said council made the decision to purchase the property without public consultation to get the best value for taxpayers.
“We are elected to make decisions and I am very passionate and confident that it was the right decision,” Taylor said.
The public is invited to provide input and feedback on what will become of the Mulock Estate, as visioning exercises begin. Taylor predicted that construction could begin at the site late next year, with the park being built out within about three years.
Rising property taxes was also raised as a concern among attendees, to which Taylor replied that was a topic he could talk about “for a very long time”.
“It’s not going to get any easier,” Taylor said, referring to the funding cuts and downloading of services to municipalities that appear to be coming out of Queen’s Park on a weekly basis. “It’s a challenging frontier that we operate in as municipal elected officials and it’s getting dramatically more challenging.”
Achieving lower taxes is going to be “very difficult in the next couple of years,” Taylor said, noting that the costs of doing business at the Town are also increasing.
He noted, for instance, that garbage collection rates are going up and the Town has spent millions battling the disease caused by the emerald ash borer that has affected thousands of trees in Newmarket.
“This might not be the best audience to share this with but, again, it comes down to a philosophy. I’m a big believer that we are in a very high-growth area, and I know high growth brings new revenues, but it also brings a great deal of new expenses,” Taylor said.
“It means we need to build infrastructure in advance of growth, which we don’t always do perfectly, I’ll admit that, but we try to,” he said. “We have to build the York Durham sewage plant for future growth, that’s going to cost about $700 (million) to $800 million. There’s immense pressures to build for that growth, to be prepared and ready and try to get ahead of it. If you don’t have debt that means you’re not building in advance of growth, and you want a council and a mayor who (are) planning 20 to 30 years out.”
On the perception that the Town is “top-heavy” in regards to staffing and the number of employees on the province’s Sunshine List earning more than $100,000 a year, Taylor said that’s an area he’s willing to investigate more fully.
He said one of the strategic priorities for the 2018 to 2022 term of council is to put in place better financial metrics so it can more clearly understand and communicate its financial position.
“There’s going to be a lot of work in that area,” he added.
With regard to what NTAG said is an unusually high number of Town projects outsourced to consultants at a high price tag, Taylor said it is sometimes “more efficient and a better use of taxpayers' dollars to outsource during the peaks in the development and planning cycles that come through”.
Other areas of interest included a push by Deputy Mayor Tom Vegh to build a new library and seniors’ centre on the Hollingsworth Arena property, what may become of Main Street’s Clock Tower properties and the historic Union Hotel, and the profitability of the Newmarket Theatre.
NTAG incoming president, Kathy Kumpula, said it was encouraging to see a large group of residents turn up for the question-and-answer event with Newmarket’s mayor.
“We’re pleased to see so many new faces here interested in the Town,” Kumpula said. “There was so many interesting questions posed to the mayor.”
For more information on the Newmarket Taxpayers Advocacy Group, visit here.
