Using Wasaga residential taxes to support tourism businesses

Yesterday we discussed the misguided concept our Council is undertaking to focus the majority of our resources towards Tourism.

I said I hoped to discuss the wasteful ways our taxes are being thrown around to promote and support an area that should instead be supported using funds contributed by those who will benefit directly from those funds.

What I meant by that was that everyone who pays taxes should be aware that their tax levies are going directly to paying for items that support a very small segment of our community.

Head down to Beach One in February.

Do you see those businesses keeping their doors open to serve the citizens of Wasaga Beach after the crowds are gone? For 90% of the businesses down there the answer is no… they come to town, enjoy the Municipality spending hundreds of thousands to bring them customers, then they leave and some return 8 months later to repeat the cycle.

My personal opinion (shared by many) is that those businesses that directly benefit from the tourism spending, should form a Business Improvement Area, establish member fees and pay for all of these promotions as a group.

Membership in a BIA is not optional once it is established. The municipality adds whatever fee the BIA establishes, as a separate levy on their tax bill to all businesses in the affected area.

BIA’s have to be defined by a specific geographical area. Now, Wasaga Beach COULD decide the town boundaries are the outer limits of their BIA and collect from EVERY business in town, but that would defeat the purpose of having those who benefit- pay to play.

If this Council wants to follow through on their promises of building you a downtown, let the businesses who will benefit from the Towns area specific events be the businesses that pay for those events, advertising etc…

Bear in mind, events like Jazz Fest, the Beach Concerts, the TPAL concerts can still happen, but it is the BIA (represented by an elected board) that does the organizing, collects the profit and then can use the profits specifically to fund the project they feel benefit their area (OUR downtown).

Our residential taxes should not increase by 17+ percent (municipal portion) simply because the Council wants new billboards, free concerts, beach chairs, benches and bike racks all along Main Street.

If the businesses at Beach One and Main Street feel a concert would bring them business, let them pay for the event. Hey… let them profit from it or lose, depending on THEIR planning.

So why don’t we have a BIA? It’s not something actually initiated by Councils alone. According to a Q&A section of the Provinces website; it is initiated by business leaders in the community. If those business leaders see a need, they request it of Council. I think in reality key players get together and the required steps get fulfilled regardless of who spoke first. Then Council would establish a bylaw that creates the BIA and create its initial rules/ guidelines.

This is not a new concept. There are local BIA’s in a wide variety of Ontario Communities. In fact, according to the Ontario Government the first BIA’s were created in Ontario. It’s an “Ontario Thing”!

One of our Council Members Ellen Timms was the head of a BIA in Port Credit and worked closely with FRAM and others to create a specific atmosphere where FRAM was developing condos. One of our two CAO’s Andrew McNeil appears to have worked closely with her on previous projects (based on online photos). They are always bragging about what a great neighborhood Port Credit is, so why not copy what they were a part of in Mississauga?

Instead, our Council has determined that a separate party planning event corporation should be established USING WASAGA BEACH TAX DOLLARS- $500,000.00 of Wasaga Beach tax dollars. That corporation would not necessarily be directly accountable to the local businesses or tax payers. I believe the original power point slides describing the corporation said the top four positions would pay a total of $427,000.00 in wages (year one), borrowed from Wasaga Beach Tax-Payer reserves. If that happens, that leaves them $73,000.00 for first year operating costs. It also leaves them with a year one debt of $427,000.00. Would a BIA operate using those wages/ operating costs and debt ratios? I doubt the board of any BIA would allow that.

So why has our Council chosen to go that direction instead of a BIA? Has our Council had these discussions but done so under the umbrella of secrecy known as “in camera”?

Maybe the deep pockets of the Wasaga Beach taxpayers are too attractive to eliminate. Whether it’s TPAL concerts, Beach Concerts, long term events like Jazz Fest, gardens, benches, or any other activity or beautification project… what would the total expenditures for these items “downtown” add up to?

The Province of Ontario recognizes BIA’s as such an important tool, they have integrated them into the Municipal Act. Attached is a 121 Page booklet printed by the Province detailing how and why to start one. Perhaps that is why we are not considering it. When Councilors gave themselves a 25% pay increase and a 40% increase for our Mayor, they did complain that there was already so much reading.

https://files.ontario.ca/…/mmah-business-improvement…

But why has the Province not established a handbook for starting a Municipal entertainment corporation? Perhaps it is because they have a section in the municipal act that prohibits municipalities from competing directly with businesses.

Set this post aside for a rainy evening and read the attached handbook. I have. I included just a couple of pages from the very front of the book, but it is truly worth the read.

Our Mayor in his previous term of Council already established boundaries for our “Downtown” as part of his Downtown Master Plan. So why do we NOT have a BIA to build, beautify and promote that downtown? I suspect it is actually because those who want the benefits are more than willing to continue allowing all taxpayers in Wasaga Beach fund their business environment.

To be clear… The way I read it, every commercial tax payer, or tenants in the defined area pay their portion. Would that include empty lots? If so, could the owners of these lots get elected to the BIA board and have an influence on the direction THEY want to see the area grow?

BIA’s are a GREAT thing. They hold fundraising events that bring communities together, they harness the collective financial and business power of the communities business leaders and they reduce the workload on municipal councils. When people see all of the promotion shared by the Downtown Collingwood BIA, do they focus on the “BIA” part of that message or the “Collingwood” part of that message?

https://collingwooddowntown.com/about-the-collingwood…/

I have included a second link for your reading pleasure. In the last month, I have heard our Mayor Brian Smith (who lives up in Tiny Township) go on and on about what a great Town Collingwood is. Great Mr. Mayor… so look to “why” they have succeeded where you have failed. I think you will find that it is all about letting go of the control you cherish so much.

Look at the Collingwood site carefully. There are probably a hundred or more BIA’s we could learn from, but we have to have a Council willing to give up the spotlight.

Maybe that’s the big show stopper. Perhaps Brian and Joe are not ready to give up their VIP seating and decision making POWER!

A properly set up BIA would survive and actually bridge Councils. They would not answer to a CAO of the municipality or its Mayor. In Collingwood for instance, the BIA may hold their elections on an election year and send their list to Council for appointment, but there is ONLY one member of the new Council appointed to the board. They have input like any of the other seven members. The Council only one has one vote.

Finally, I would like to piggyback onto yesterday’s main theme. A properly run BIA in Wasaga Beach would recognize the importance of the year round residents of Wasaga Beach as their primary focus.

Enabling a profitable environment for their members year round, would prove to be a win/win for all.

I think it’s time. If you agree, ask Ellen Timms or all members of Council to push this direction instead of an “Entertainment Corporation”.

One Comment

alanclegg July 9, 2024 at 1:19 pm

This frankly has been a bit of a bugbear for me for over a decade. the use of residential taxes to directly support a (small) number of businesses related to beachfront tourism, many of which are owned by non residents.
Let me be clear, I fully support promoting the town, but councils has spent tens of millions of dollars putting entertainment and creating events that frankly aren’t for the residents who pay the taxes that are being spent on them.

As a result we as a town have fewer amenities and services than comparable towns, and since Smith took control we now have taxes that are creeping higher than these towns.

I fully support small business, but cannot see the value as a tax payer in funding what is still in spite of Smith’s ten year old promise to “fix tourism” still an industry in decline.