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Increase in CVC levies needed to repair past neglect
Friday August 1 2008 Editor’s Note: This letter (excerpted to fit) was sent to Orangeville town councillor Gail Campbell following discussions that took place at a council meeting on July 14.

This is further clarification regarding questions and comments raised during recent CVC (Credit Valley Conservation) presentations at various Dufferin council meetings at Orangeville, East Garafraxa, Mono and Amaranth relative to municipal levies. It also touches on building costs raised in recent local newspaper articles.
Conservation Authorities (CAs) in concert with their member municipalities are the lead environmental management organizations locally. Watersheds cross municipal boundaries and as such, the health of a watershed depends on member municipalities working together to protect plants, animals, ground water, surface water and terrestrial ecosystems. Municipalities such as those in Dufferin County play a critical role in protecting the headwaters of this watershed.
The Credit River Watershed faces serious pressures. Some of these issues and stressors include the impacts of growth and development; rising water temperatures and lowering water levels; increasing amounts of impervious surfaces; invasive species; decreasing biodiversity; and climate change.
In 1996, provincial cutbacks resulted in conservation authority budgets being reduced to half. In the case of Credit Valley Conservation Authority, the result was all environmental programs other than water management were severely curtailed.
In 2001, member municipalities in the Credit Watershed recognized that this was not a prudent course of action and embraced the imperative to start to rebuild environmental programs.
Catching-up was and is expensive, and most GTA authorities have reached 1996 “pre-provincial cut levels” in the past two to three years, thanks largely to their member municipalities. Meanwhile growth in the watershed has continued relentlessly and conservation authorities struggle, as do many agencies, to keep pace.
All municipalities in the watershed have played their part financially. Although increases for CAs were sometimes double digit starting out, CVC levies to most municipalities are expected to stabilize at about six per cent increases going forward. This represents three per cent for cost of living and three per cent for salary increases as staff move through the steps in their salary band to their maximum salary level for the job.
The province says municipalities pay CA levies according to a formula based on population and current value assessment. Peel, as the largest municipality in the CVC watershed, assumes 92 to 94 per cent of the levy and Orangeville, as an example of a medium-sized municipality, assumes 2.7 per cent.  
In 2006 it was deemed that the special levy was being unfairly allocated to some municipalities.  Orangeville, as an example of a benefitting municipality, saved $108,000 from 2004 to 2005. In 2006, the decision was made to phase-in a fair allocation over three years. The three-year phase-in saved Orangeville an additional $74,000 for a total savings of $182,000 for the period 2004-2008. Orangeville paid a levy to CVC of $194,000 in 2008.
In addition, Orangeville contributed $7,500 for the Vicki Barron Trail at Island Lake in 2004; $8,000 in 2008 and offered to pay about $10,000 in 2009 and $12,000 in 2010 (the latter two payments are for trail maintenance to ensure the trail will be free to users). The Vicki Barron Trail contributions are not levied by CVC and are discretionary for Orangeville.
In 2007 CVC levied $164,000 in total in Dufferin County and spent about $800,000 in the area, representing about a five-fold return to Dufferin residents. The levy consisted of $154,000 in Orangeville, $3,000 in East Garafraxa, $600 in Amaranth, and $6,000 in Mono.
On a per capita basis in 2008, a person in CVC’s Dufferin headwaters paid on average $8 to CVC for environmental programs.
With regards to the CVC addition to the administrative building, the physical working environment for CVC staff has been seriously deteriorating since 2001.  It is imperative that the overcrowding problem be addressed. The results of a feasibility study, that explored a host of alternative options, have shown that the most cost-effective solution is to expand the existing administration office.  
A full review of the preliminary design and cost estimates concludes that the building project is both reasonable and comparable in cost to other local construction projects. Based on a 15-year mortgage and starting in 2010 or later, Orangeville’s contribution to the mortgage is $12,000 a year, Mono is $500 a year, East Garafraxa is $300 a year and Amaranth is $50 a year. The experts managing the project for CVC have warned that further delays can result in escalation costs of about $30,000 a month.

Rae Horst is the chief administrative officer of the Credit Valley Conservation Authority.

North Peel Media Group Newspapers: The Brampton Guardian Caledon Enterprise Independent & Free Press Orangeville Banner