Town Council approves consolidation of all 2020 Town fees and charges

In an effort to handle current provincial budget cuts, be better positioned for potential future cuts, and ensure that a high level of service can still be provided to residents without undue tax increases, the Town performed a comprehensive service delivery review in 2019.

As part of the review, every department was asked to review their respective user fees, both to determine if current fees were adequate and if new fees were required. A full cost analysis of many services the Town provides was also conducted to identify the true cost of delivering Town services.

For example, to better understand the actual cost of ice time at the Pyramid Recreation Centre, staff looked at the whole picture – including utilities, staffing, infrastructure, insurance, and all related expenses – to come up with an accurate hourly cost of offering ice.

A similar process for financial viability was followed for all recreation and leisure programs, which led to the cancellation of 6:30 a.m. lane swimming Monday through Friday at the Pyramid Recreation Centre (PRC), effective January 1 – though the PRC will continue to offer all other lane swimming times.

Senior staff presented many options to Council – including operating efficiencies, expenditure reductions, service level changes, and revenue/fee increases – throughout August and September of this year. 

On Tuesday, November 26, Town Council approved the consolidation of all the Town’s 2020 fees and charges and will review the fees at least annually to ensure that they are up to date and adequate.

The Town’s new fee structure can be viewed online at: https://stmarys.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/3239?preview=3325 

Contact

Jenna McCartney, Deputy Clerk
519-284-2340, ext. 212 | jmccartney@town.stmarys.on.ca