Getting the region's 2025 draft budget down to a target 8 per cent tax hike won't be achieved without sacrifice.
Today the region released a list of potential service cuts councillors will consider on final budget day Dec. 11.
The 22 potential "savings options" total $5.2 million with annualized savings of about $7.8 million. If approved in total, the suggested cuts would reduce the property tax burden by one per cent.
The region won't comment on how many existing full-time staff might be impacted by the proposed service cuts, which are wide ranging.
They include cutting security resources at encampments, supportive housing and shelters for a potential tax levy savings impact of $627,400.
The region says the "reduction would reduce the first point of contact and escalation for critical and potentially dangerous situations that can impact the health and safety of both residents of encampments, supportive housing and shelters and regional employees and partners."
Major cuts to transit would involve the reduction of service on one route serving Cambridge.
Route 55 Grand Ridge serves about 350 customers/day who utilize the route for daily activities/ employment, etc. They would be impacted by a 30 minute longer wait time.
Service reduction could also come to Route 26 in southwest Kitchener and a route serving the University of Waterloo.
Removing Route 35 in west Kitchener is expected to impact the 221 customers who use it.
Reducing service on other bus routes serving north Waterloo and the UW campus would impact about 1,600 customers with additional wait times.
Raising the monthly Grand River Transit pass to $104 instead of the proposed $100 is also on the table. That would be an $8 increase over what riders pay now.
The region says it could also realize savings by starting summer transit service one week early to better align with post secondary schedules.
Council could also consider removing bus stop garbage cans and eliminate funding downtown waste collection.
The region has the option of ending downtown waste pick up because it's a fully discretionary service. If it was cancelled, continued garbage pick up in the cores would have to be provided by an alternative funding source and would likely fall to area municipalities.
Removing the service to save an estimated $325,000 could also potentially break the region's current contract with Miller Waste Systems.
Health services cuts are also on the table.
The region could be asked to cut dental services for children and youth who don't qualify for Healthy Smiles Ontario. They include children whose family either does not have access to the Canadian Dental Care Plan or can't afford the 40 to 60 per cent co-pay associated with the CDCP; or cannot afford out of pocket expenses. It would impact an average of 602 children per year across the region.
Adult dental emergencies for low income adults could also get the axe. An average of 72 adults are served per year and are not eligible for other financial assistance programs through OW, ODSP, or discretionary benefits.
Contacted this afternoon about the proposed cuts, regional councillor Doug Craig said the region is "at bare bones regardless" of the potential service reductions because of the failure of upper levels of government to fund municipalities appropriately.
"It's a broken system," he said. "We are not being properly funded, so we're just clawing at everything."
Meanwhile, he said, big cities like Toronto and Ottawa are getting massive handouts from the provincial and federal governments while mid-size cities watch from the sidelines.
"It's particularly acute this year," he said.
The 2025 draft budget proposes raising $575.9 million from taxpayers, representing a 12 per cent increase over last year's tax levy requirement, excluding the police budget of $253 million.
Councillors will spend the next two weeks whittling down that budget down to get it closer to an 8 per cent tax hike.
A third public input meeting of the strategic plan and budget committee will follow today's service cuts announcement to give those impacted by the cuts a chance to voice their opinion on the proposed service changes. It's scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 3
The report posted on the region's Engage page for the 2025 Budget says internal and external factors were considered in the assessment of what services could be cut from the budget.
They included risks related to the wellbeing of the community’s most marginalized and vulnerable people, and impacts to their economic precarity, potentially putting more pressure on housing, homelessness and other regional and area municipal services.
The region says the move to consider changing service levels looked at demand and usage, while balancing the need to address aging infrastructure and meet targets and legislative requirements.
The assessment also considered maintaining relationships and partnerships with community groups, organizations and other levels of government, as well as "continued sustainability and responsiveness to provide essential services with a skilled workforce that meets current and future growth."
