Fiscal Sustainability Update provides overview of financial future
Newmarket –York Region’s 2023 Fiscal Sustainability Update provides an overview of the Region’s current financial state and a forecast of the possible impacts on the Region’s ability to accommodate mandated growth as a result of recent provincial direction.
“For more than 50 years, York Regional Council has collaborated with local partners and all levels of government to provide residents with high-quality public services that respect our taxpayers and position York Region as a destination of choice to live and invest in,” said York Region Chairman and CEO Wayne Emmerson. “While the report identifies some financial challenges York Region may face in the months and years ahead, I have full confidence in the collaboration among all levels of government.”
Fiscal sustainability requires planning for the long term with a focus on the prudent management of the capital plan, reserves and debt. To achieve this, York Region is guided by the following four principles:
- Keeping growth affordable and the Region’s existing infrastructure in a state of good repair
- Maintaining the Region’s AAA credit rating
- Maintaining the fiscal flexibility to respond to the Region’s evolving needs and economic changes
- Treating current and future taxpayers fairly by striving for intergenerational equity
Recent changes to Provincial legislation have accelerated the timelines for housing construction needed to accommodate a larger population sooner and to help address affordability. Key among those changes is Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022.
While development charges pay for necessary growth-related infrastructure such as water and wastewater, roads and transit, Bill 23 will result in lower development charge collections than originally estimated in the Region’s 2023 budget. Among other changes, it eliminated housing services as a development charges-eligible service and provided for development charge rates to be phased in over a period of five years. The reduction in development charge collections is estimated to total between $710 million and $1.9 billion by 2033.
Additionally, the Supporting Growth and Housing in York and Durham Regions Act changed the planned approach for dealing with wastewater in York Region’s northern municipalities. The Act requires a significant expansion to the York Durham Sewage System to send wastewater to the Duffin Creek Plant in the City of Pickering. This change, as well as other recent legislative changes, will require previously planned infrastructure to be built much sooner than outlined in the Region’s 2023-approved master plans.
“York Region’s capital plans are developed to deliver the maximum amount of infrastructure within our fiscal capacity,” said Township of King Mayor Steve Pellegrini, Chair of Finance and Administration. “New housing infrastructure demands will be a source of ongoing discussion at Regional Council.”
The Province of Ontario has committed to make municipalities financially whole as they deal with the financial implications of Bill 23. To date, the Province has not made any funding commitments to address these shortfalls. To maintain the service levels required to continue to support growth, and in lieu of Provincial funding to help address these reductions, Council could consider a one-time tax levy and user rate increase as part of the 2024 budget process.
The Regional Municipality of York consists of nine local cities and towns and provides a variety of programs and services to more than 1.2 million residents and 55,600 businesses with more than 615,000 employees. More information about the Region’s key service areas is available at york.ca/regionalservices
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Barbara Schnier, Corporate Communications,
The Regional Municipality of York
Phone: 905-505-5775
Email: @email
