North Huron Council approves new fees and charges schedule for 2025
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
At a special council meeting on Nov. 22, North Huron Council kicked the festive budget season into high gear with the annual tradition of senior staff proposing updates to the township’s fees and charges bylaw for council’s consideration. Council approved the proposed changes, following a discussion that led to a few minor tweaks. The passing of the bylaw also comes along with the understanding that council will be making further amendments as additional information continues to come in from senior staff.
The proposed updates include the specific information that council added to its municipal wishlist at its Oct. 21 meeting, including clear communication of any changes in fees, the rationale for said changes, the intended outcome, and a comparator table that shows how North Huron stacks up in comparison to nearby municipalities.
According to Treasurer Chris Townes, the rationale behind all proposed changes is to better recover costs, to cover the cost of inflation and to align with the rates and fees charged by other municipalities, with the intended outcome of better recovering the actual costs of providing services while reducing the overall impact on taxation.
There are no recommended changes to administration fees, building class fees and children’s programming; and the ability to recover the costs of self-contained breathing apparatus cylinder refills through the Fire Marque program means they will no longer require subsidization through emergency services fees.
Staff presented a few proposed changes to North Huron’s licensing fees, including increasing the cost of a civil marriage ceremony (CMC) from $350 to $375, plus licensing fees. According to the accompanying comparator table, a CMC in Howick clocks in at $425, whereas in Huron East, a civil ceremony is a mere $50. The licensing fee for food trucks on municipal property may see an increase from $105 to $150.
In the lead-up to this year’s fees and charges update, local funeral director Dayna Deans formed a delegation and spoke to council in an effort to draw its attention towards last year’s sharp increase in cemetery fees. At North Huron’s Oct. 7 meeting, she explained that, as of 2023, the winter burial fee was now being added to the standard burial fee as a surcharge for the first time, as opposed to in lieu of the standard burial fee. She also pointed out that this surcharge was now being applied to all burials, including infants and cremated remains, instead of just adult burials. Deans was also dismayed that the winter burial surcharge is now automatically applied from Nov. 15 onwards, no matter the weather conditions. Previously, cemetery operators had the discretion to decide whether or not the winter burial fee would be applied, depending on the weather conditions. At the Oct. 7 meeting, and again at the town hall meeting in Blyth on Oct. 10, Deans urged council to address these issues during the fees and charges update.
As he presented proposed changes, Director of Public Works Dax McAllister reminded council that a staff report on the subject of winter burials is still forthcoming. “I will note that we are bringing a report back to deal with the winter burial as part of a follow-up report to the delegation that council received previously,” he said. “That will address the winter burial, for council to make a decision on that. But until that time, we’ve left that in.” The current proposal specifies that the $1,019.70 winter burial fee will be charged from Nov. 15 onward. It also includes a blanket increase of three per cent on all charges, and a new fee of $200 for an additional cremation interment at the same time as a regular ground interment or columbarium interment.
Councillor Mitch Wright asked McAllister about the new fee for interring additional cremated remains. “So, if we’re looking for cost recovery, I’m just wondering what the basis of that fee is? Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but I don’t think there would be an incremental cost to do a cremation interment at the same time as a burial.” McAllister confirmed that Wright was right - there is no additional cost associated with that particular service. “We’re just keeping our policies aligned with other cemeteries,” he explained. Reeve Paul Heffer expressed interest in staff’s upcoming winter burial fee report.
In the public works department, several changes are being proposed, including a three per cent increase on almost all charges. The lone exception is the deposit on entrance permits, which staff recommends go from $621.50 to $2,500. This draft update also advocates for the elimination of the fees and charges for equipment rentals and the sale of aggregate materials, and the inclusion of a new charge for the repair of any damage to municipal property caused by others.
Staff’s plans for next year’s planning and site plan fees have been temporarily delayed due to a new requirement regarding the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The second draft of the fees and charges bylaw will include proposed changes to the planning and site plan fees.
Historically, changes to North Huron’s recreation and facilities fees have generated a great deal of discussion amongst the township’s taxpayers. Kelly Steiss, Director of Recreation and Children’s Services, presented this portion of the proposal. Steiss began by reminding council about some of the changes that were made to the recreation fees during last year’s update, namely, a 25 per cent increase to basic recreation package rates, and the phasing-in of increases to aquafit memberships, swim memberships, fitness memberships, court rentals, and youth ice arena rentals with 70 per cent of the increase occurring in 2024 and the remaining 30 per cent, plus applicable COLA, occurring in 2025.
While Steiss’ proposed recreation fees for 2025 did include that 30 per cent increase, she also presented some possible changes to their plan. “I did bring a recommendation forward,” she explained, “based on some feedback from earlier this year. As you may recall, we conducted some surveys with current users, but we also had a larger survey of people.” The purpose of the larger survey was to gain deeper insight into the wants and needs of those who do not frequent North Huron’s facilities. “Additionally, I’ve had some feedback from members of council, based on information they have received from their constituents…. Some of that feedback indicated that there is a threshold - people are struggling to be able to pay the significant increase in fees. There is a request as well to include some student and senior rates, which the township did offer in the past. There was quite a bit of feedback around the reintroducing of those rates, so you’ll see that in here.” Several programs, like aquafit, are no longer recommended to see that 30 per cent increase for 2025. “The other piece of feedback we received was from some of our user groups, particularly around ice arena rentals where those user groups have a season that covers two years.” Steiss recommends following suit with other municipalities by offering seasonal, not annual rates. “The benefit of that is that, for example, Wingham Minor Hockey would be able to set their rates in the year, for that year.”
Wingham’s Town Hall Theatre is also facing some potential changes in its fees and charges. Staff recommends that the separate hourly fees for private and community rehearsals be consolidated into a single, $60-per-hour rehearsal fee. The daily fee for a private performance would increase from $275 to $550, with the understanding that $300 from each rental would be transferred to capital reserves. For community performances, the per-day fee would go from $100 to $200. It also proposes eliminating the separate hourly charges for staff support during private and community performances in favour of a single hourly charge of $60, instead of $45 and $30, respectively.
Councillor Chris Palmer questioned whether combining the private and community fees in such a way was the right move. “I’m wondering - should the private be kept on?” he asked. Wright suggested “for-profit” and “not-for-profit” as a possible option. He also asked for clarification on how these changes would potentially affect the township’s potential partnership with a third party that has expressed an interest in managing the theatre’s day-to-day operations.
In terms of North Huron’s water and wastewater fees, staff recommends the township begin charging for connection to the sewer system, instead of just the water system.
The proposed overall development charges rate increase for 2025 is 3.3 per cent, which would be applied in quarterly increments.
Although further information regarding things like the cemetery fees and planning and site plan fees are still forthcoming, interim Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk Carson Lamb recommended that council pass the proposed fees and charges bylaw, with the understanding that amendments can be made to the bylaw as the necessary information becomes available. A motion to do so was put forth by Wright, and seconded by Councillor Lonnie Whitfield. The motion passed four to two, with Councillors Anita van Hittersum and Ric McBurney choosing not to support the motion.