First come, first served: Mayor proposes small expansion to windrow clearing service next winter

November 21, 2023

12:00 PM

Mumin Mian

A woman treks through the snow in Town Square in Downtown Oakville.

The mayor has rejected the idea of a town-wide snow windrow clearing program in his proposed 2024 budget.

Under the new strong mayor powers given to him by the province, Mayor Rob Burton is now responsible for drafting the town budget.

Yesterday, on Nov. 20, a few hours before the scheduled council meeting, he posted his budget to the town’s website.

The budget proposes a 4.38 per cent increase to residential property taxes next year, in line with the recommendation from town councillors to keep the overall tax hike below 4.5 per cent.

That amounts to an extra $33.30 in taxes per $100,000 in assessment. The owner of a house assessed at $800,000 would pay an extra $266 in property taxes next year.

Burton said he is confident his budget "sets a solid foundation for our community’s continued livability and vibrancy."

Despite pressure from North Oakville councillors, the mayor’s budget doesn’t include a $2.6 million program to clear windrows – the heavy and unpopular piles of snow deposited at the bottom of driveways by street-clearing plows.

Instead, he’s proposing to expand the town’s existing windrow clearing service next winter, on a first-come, first-served basis.

The town currently clears about 450 driveway windrows for people who are over 65 or have medical conditions, at a subsidized cost. Burton suggests adding up to another 650 households at a full cost-recovery rate of $118 plus tax.

"We can improve incrementally when we can’t afford everything all at once," he said.

The first-come, first-served nature of the plan was met with some skepticism from Ward 3 councillor Janet Haslett-Theall.

But Burton promised that if a majority of town council votes to change that – or other elements of his budget – he won’t veto those amendments.

Residents who want to comment on the proposed budget can delegat to town council at a meeting planned for next Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

On Dec. 20, town councillors will have the opportunity to offer amendments to the mayor’s budget.

What are you paying for?

Oakville property taxes fund the budgets of the town, Halton Region and the Halton school boards.

Town of Oakville

The town’s operating and capital budgets fund more than 60 programs and services, including parks, recreation, fire services, harbours, Oakville Transit, local roads, libraries and other infrastructure. Full budget documents can be found online here.

Halton Region’s budget pays for policing, paramedic services, regional roads and public health, housing and social services.

Despite the mayor’s chart anticipating a 5.06 per cent tax increase resulting from the 2024 regional budget, there are no public budget documents yet available for review.

Halton regional council is expected to receive the draft budget on Dec. 6.

Comments (1)

Comment Feed

What they don't mention about windrows and why can't we afford it?

I'm very supportive of people getting their windrows cleared. However, there are two issues I'd like to raise.

First, when they clean one person's windrow, they then simply move the snow down the street and dump in into everyone else's driveway, adding to their windrows. That makes it hard even for a physically fit and able person when you have snow like last year, but then that's the point of discussing windrows in the first place. No one would complain about a light dusting of snow.

Second, this article says the service would come at a full cost recovery rate of $118, but then that "we can't afford everything all at once." After last year, I'd seriously consider paying the fee as the pile of snow and ice were over my head in the end and the windrow I had to clear was about a meter deep. Why can we "not afford it" as a town if $118 "fully recovers" the costs? The net cost to the town would then be zero. Seems like we can afford it. So, why are we limiting the service to the first 650 requests?

Naturally, if we paid for everyone, it would probably be cheaper per household (at a "group discount"), but perhaps an interim period is appropriate to test it out.

No Spam 8 days ago