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Let’s talk
There are no easy solutions to the County’s financial woes. Those who say otherwise aren’t telling you the truth. Or don’t understand the numbers. Neither of which is an acceptable or tolerable situation when uttered by an elected County official.
There are, however, practical, workable things we can do to alter the County’s fated financial trajectory. But it begins with an honest conversation. That means we must stop pretending that if we ignore the problem it will go away. Or that if we chip away at it over time we can fix it. The truth is that each and every day we are going backwards— into a deeper, darker hole. This is where discussion must begin.
Last year, County council approved a Corporate Strategic Plan listing financial sustainability as its number one priority. Specifically, this prime directive seeks to ensure financial sustainability for the County with a financial plan in place and reserves that allow us to achieve our financial objectives.
It sounds nice enough, but, as an achievable prospect, it is about as realistic as my wish to play starting forward for the Montreal Canadiens next season. Or ever.
Dreams are fine, they just aren’t very helpful in managing real-world problems. Nor are they of any value when your earning potential is swamped by a ceaseless tsunami of expenses. When you live in a palace but earn minimum wage. This is where we are with the County’s infrastructure— huge bills coming due, and no ability to pay.
A 2014 study, paid for by County taxpayers, highlighted the scale—and intractability—of the crisis. KPMG, a consultancy, showed that the County was widening its infrastructure deficit by $38 million per year—digging the municipal hole deeper each and every year.
The problem is most evident in the County’s crumbling road network.
Just fixing the worst roads in Prince Edward County, according to KPMG, will require $170 million. Right away. That is just the beginning. The consultant goes on to point out that the County needs to put away many millions more each year in just to maintain, rehabilitate and replace these roads in the years ahead.
But the County doesn’t have that kind of money. Not even close. It currently spends about $10 million on its roads and bridges repairs each year. That is about all we can afford. At this rate, County roads are decaying faster than we can fix them. Worse, this municipality can’t tax or borrow its way out of this problem. The scale of our dilemma is just too big.
That doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless. But neither is denial an excuse for inaction. We’re three years into this term of local government, and the issue isn’t even on the agenda. Instead, we pay consulting engineers to tell us that County Road 49 is in poor condition and that it will be expensive to fix. It’s about as useful as paying Max Pacioretty to tell me what I need to do to crack the lineup for the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge in September.
The truth is we are not alone in this terrible predicament. In 1998 and 1999 vast sections of the province’s highway network were downloaded to municipal governments leaving property taxpayers to foot the cost. This was less of a burden in urban areas, much more so in rural communities. The inequity is obvious. Danforth Road in Toronto is funded by hundreds of property owners per kilometre. Collectively they can afford their road. But in Prince Edward County, Danforth Road has fewer than a dozen property taxpayers per kilometre. It is a much greater—and frankly unsustainable—burden.
We must make the case strenuously and unremittingly that communities, including Prince Edward County, are wilting under this burden. The Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, currently chaired by Mayor Robert Quaiff, lists six “endeavours” of which advocating for greater provincial infrastructure spending is ranked number two.
So here is an idea. Drop all the other tasks and focus on the anchor that threatens to drown you, Mr. Mayor and all the other municipal leaders in this club. Use your face time with provincial officials at the annual roads conference to explain the basic math problem of too much infrastructure and too few property taxpayers.
Here’s another: Hire a lobbying firm. Learn from renewable energy developers how to get attention at Queen’s Park. You and your brethren in rural Ontario, can’t fix this problem on the municipal level—so devote your resources and efforts to explaining the issue at the level where it can make a difference.
A couple more: Start talking about the problem. When was the last time council talked about its growing infrastructure deficit? It’s not happening. Everything must be on the table: tolls, new taxes and diminishing services.
Prepare a clear and understandable triage methodology that spells out how the County’s few infrastructure dollars will be spent and why. Stop leading residents on. Tell people the truth.
Spend the time necessary to explain which roads must go back to gravel, which roads might deliver a reasonable return on investment, and which ones are likely to be abandoned or reverted to private property.
Finally, here’s a simple measure council can take to save money today: Stop funding studies and reports that tell you your roads are bad and should be fixed. You have 25,000 residents who can tell you that. And, stop paying expensive consultants to tell you how much it will cost to rebuild a road you have no means to pay for.
Let’s talk.
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