Shovels down

Good data, and everyone who pays property taxes in the County should be paying attention, and should be mightily concerned.

With respect, however, not all “municipal folks who made these decisions are gone now”.

The article may be referring to folks like the CAO and Director of Finance that departed in 2025, and some of their staff.

However, Staff spending is driven, and approved ,by the 13 Councillors and the Mayor. (If you want to put faces to the 14 names, see here –> https://www.thecounty.ca/government/council/

In less than 9 months, County voters will be asked to cast their votes for a new Council and Mayor. In less than 4 months, we should expect registration for a citizen to be a candidate to open.

My wife and I followed my kids to the County from away. They moved here around 2015, and because we wanted to be near them and our grandkids, we moved here in 2019. We built our own house through the pandemic, mostly ourselves, but with local plumbing, electrical, landscaping, roofing, and framing help. They renovated their old farm and house with the help of local people.

In the year ended Dec 31, 2015, the County had a NEGATIVE net worth of just over $31 Million, and spent $58.1 million during the year for all government departments. The population of the County at that time was just under 25,000.

We will not get to know what these numbers are as at Dec 31, 2025, until August or September. But for the year ended Dec 31, 2024, the County’s Net Worth had fallen to almost NEGATIVE $55 million, and Staff spent over $96 million during the year for all government departments. With the severance packages and continued bloating, it would not be surprising to see the Net Worth for the year ended Dec 31, 2025 fall to NEGATIVE $60 million or lower, and the spending to top $100 million.

All this, for a population of the County unlikely to be changed much from that 25,000 figure that has been the case for the past decade. We will know more when the 2026 Census from Stats Canada is completed in a few months.

Starting this fall, we need a Mayor and Council that will stand up for County residents and taxpayers. And if they do not understand the complex language in endless reports and presentations they get from Staff, they just need to have the courage and the will to admit that they do not understand. If Staff wishes cannot be expressed in plain English, the answer should just be “no”. Come back when you can explain in plain English.

In our family, our kids moved away 2 years ago, in the face of rising County taxes and bureaucracy, limited opportunities for employment, and not much value from municipal services. They have now found those opportunities elsewhere and are doing well. We will be following them, in the not too distant future, because although we are nearly retired, we will not sit back and watch our taxes grow, grow and grow more, with nothing delivered to us for it. With our kids and grandkids having moved away.

While we are still here, though, we will continue to support our neighbours and friends, and will happily financially support the campaigns of anyone who is not an incumbent, who wishes to stand for election to a Councillor or the Mayor role. All we ask is the candidate be willing to stand up for County residents and taxpayers, say “no” to further onslaught of outside interests, developers, and consultants, and preserve a decent quality of life for those who remain here or retire here.

Please consider running in this year’s municipal election, if this describes you. Warning: You will hear lots of people (incumbents included) tell you how terrible the job is.

You, and only you, can decide which is worse — being part of the solution, or subject to the whims of a small group of people in control who do not listen and hear your concerns.