Conservation authorities across the province are making adjustments to cope with steps taken by the Ford government.
The province has cut its annual grant to conservation authorities by 49 per cent — although, as Sheryl Flannagan of the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority noted, “It wasn’t a large amount” to begin with.
For the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, it means a loss of $65,000 in 2020.
Conservation authorities are taking steps mostly to absorb the cuts.
Another factor is adding to uncertainty for the coming year: Bill 108, passed in May 2019, titled More homes, More choice, includes changes to the Conservation Authorities Act, mandating natural hazard protection and management, conservation and management of conservation authority lands, and protection of drinking water sources as top priorities. The bill also allows municipalities to determine how conservation authorities will allocate tax dollars, and streamlines the municipal approvals process.
Nearly a year after the bill was approved, conservation authorities are waiting to see the details.
Mark Critch, general manager of corporate services and chief financial officer with the LSRCA, made a presentation Wednesday to Innisfill councillors regarding its budget and the impact of the provincial funding cuts.
With nine member municipalities, including Newmarket, the LSRCA has a 2020 budget of $21,024,569 — funding not only from municipal tax levies, but federal and provincial grants, and partnerships.
“We’ve been looking for ways to offset, in our current budget,” Critch told councillors. “We have gone back, we have sharpened our pencils,” to absorb the loss of $65,000 in provincial transfer payments.
The LSRCA has also put a freeze on new hires, and attempted to limit increases to the cost of inflation. Calling it a “status quo budget,” Critch added, “We respect the financial pressures” on member municipalities.
The Town of Innisfil will be looking at an increase in the 2020 levy from $394,431 to $404,981, a change of $10,550.
“It’s less than 2.7 percent,” said Critch, noting that among its projects in 2019, the LSRCA completed EMS mapping to understand flooding in the watershed, held consultations on winter salt management, and completed or began 123 restoration projects, nine of them in Innisfil.
The budgets request was approved by Innisfil council.
