On Monday night, Council passed the 2025 King Budget which includes a tax increase of 3.68% to cover increased costs and one new staff member for Asset Management.
You can watch the video here but the link will only be live for two weeks.
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Mayor's Comments
Canada Post strike is delaying mailing services including water bills (due Dec. 18th), by-law infraction notices, marriage notices, etc. Residents are encouraged to register for e-billing and the pre-authorized debit program by emailing treasury@king.ca or call ServiceKing.
Host your holiday party at one of the many King Township venues. See the list at king.ca/bookafacility
Trees of Giving is open at the King Heritage & Cultural Centre. This is a community fundraising exhibition that displays beautiful Christmas trees decorated by community groups and businesses. Visitors can vote on their favourite tree to help it win "Best in Show". All funds raised by token sales will help send a child (or children) to camp in summer 2025! The display will be up until December 13th.
Schomberg Main Street Christmas is on Saturday, December 7th! The event starts with the exciting Community Santa Claus Parade at 4:00. There are street performers, carolers, children's entertainers, fireside readings, holiday creations, two parades, and, of course, Santa Claus! The evening is brought to a spectacular close with the Farmers' Parade of Lights brought to you by our local farming community with brightly decorated farm equipment driven down Main Street, starting at 7:30pm.
Nobleton Tree Lighting is on Sunday December 8th from 5-7:30pm at the Nobleton Gazebo (8 Sheardown Dr.)
The Winter Recreation Guide is out. The interactive winter guide will be published on Wed Nov. 27th at www.king.ca/recreation. This is the first time you can register your child for indoor swimming lessons in King. Programs start the week of Jan. 13th and earlier swim assessments will be offered at the new Zancor Centre in January for parents unsure what level to register child for swim lessons.
A blood donor clinic will be held on December 11th at the Trisan Centre from 1:30 to 7:30. Book your appointment at blood.ca
King is looking for residents who are passionate about King's sporting history to help induct the class of 2026 in the inaugural King Township Sports Hall of Fame. Applicants must be aged 16 years or older and will be required to attend in-person monthly meetings, starting January 2025. Click here for more.
King Heritage Award
The 2024 King Heritage Award was presented to Carmela Greco for excellence in preserving, maintaining, restoring, and enhancing King’s cultural history.
Carmela’s home at 2145 King Rd was built in 1891 and features distinctive architectural elements such as segmented arches over its windows and entrances, a fanlight over a large window on the main façade, and an eye-catching “L’oiel de Boeuf”—or bull’s eye—window in the front gable.
The historical significance of the property is equally compelling. Originally owned by blacksmith Henry Kitchen, a descendant of the prominent Kitchen family, the property’s history is tied to local blacksmithing and business heritage. Subsequent ownership by the Patton family further deepened its connection to the community, with a nearby street bearing their name.
King extends deep thanks to Carmella Greco for her commitment to heritage conservation and presented her with a framed rendering of her home by local artist Phillys Vernon.
King Township 2025 Budget
The 2025 Budget is presented in a serviced-based approach rather than by department to better communicate to residents how tax dollars are used. The guiding principle was to minimize increases while maintaining service levels and investing in infrastructure.
Council approved a 3.68% increase which is down from the 4.43% increase staff originally proposed.
Increasing taxes is not taken lightly. This year's budget focused on keeping existing service levels, but I've asked staff to include suggestions for decreasing service level for the 2026 budget process in order to curb any future tax increases. Residents continue to request lower taxes so it will be informative to see what savings can be had by discontinuing underused services.
This is a quick overview of budget considerations:
And this is the full budget report:
Here’s a quick overview of the various impacts included in the budget:
Areas that had increased costs for existing services:
• Inflation – We are still catching-up with inflation. Even though it has come down, over the years many contractors have spread that increase which is still affecting us now.
• Increased Maintenance Costs – Also have inflation increases and are coming in higher than expected in particular for winter and sidewalk maintenance.
• Fleet repair and maintenance – Increased cost for repairs and maintenance because we aren’t replacing as often so require more maintenance.
• Fuel increases – Costs have been up and down but we are increasing for 2025.
• Insurance – A marginal increase for adding the new Zancor Centre but also an increased number of insurance claims which have increased our rate by 5%.
• Labour contracts – including a 2.5% CUPE increase, a Market Review for the Volunteer Fire Fighters, increase in CPP rates, and Sunlife Benefits up 10%.
• IT improvements – these promote efficiencies in various departments
• Increase in Capital Projects
Total increase of about $5 million
Areas that had decreased costs for existing services:
• Revenue Projections – Staff reviewed the last couple years of revenue and growth in the town to project increased user fees.
• Reduced Spending – Any efficiencies staff can identify and also includes lower debt repayments because of lower principles to repay.
• New Fees – For new services
• Speed Enforcement – Some money from the collection of speed enforcement measures through the automated cameras was added to the Capital budget and Operating budget for safety measures.
Total increase of about $3 million
New costs that were added:
1) One new staff member that is legislatively required: Supervisor of Asset Management. This new person will review all assets and make sure all town assets are recorded (for example, King does not have a complete inventory of all street lights). The person will also be required to report on all assets as this effects grants that the town receives.
2) Adding $20,000 for a new Canada Day Celebration
Total new costs = $156,000
New revenue from growth:
Assessment Growth includes new growth which decreases the overall budget by $725,000. When a building permit is closed, King notifies MPAC to change the assessment rate. For example, the property at King and Jane has been changed from agricultural to industrial which results in an increased tax rate for that property owner helping decrease the costs born by residential property owners.
Note that a 1% tax increase in King Township only represents $362,000.
King has budgeted for a number of Capital Projects including:
• $950k to replace a pumper truck for Fire Department
• $2.1m in roads that need restructuring (separate from gravel roads conversion)
• $2m for bridges & culverts
• $1m for storm water maintenance
• $200k for speed enforcement (paid for by speeders)
• $350k for facility improvements
• $400k for sidewalk replacements so meet our minimum maintenance standard which helps to minimize claims
• $750k design of future Joint Operations Centre
• $1m gravel road conversion
King has the following projects on the 10 Year Capital Forecast. These projects are subject to change and have not yet been approved by Council.
• Nobleton Re-Development Phase 2 – 2024-2026 - $4,050,000
• Artificial Turf (including light) – 2026-2027 - $2,500,000
• New Sports park (including parking) – 2028-2030 - $4,620,500
• 8th Concession – 15 Sideroad to King Rd – 2027-2029 - $4,000,000
• Main Street Schomberg Streetscape – 2029-2031 - $6,675,999
• Joint Operations Centre – 2027-2023 - $30,000,000
• Nobleton Re-Development Phase 3 (includes Library) – 2027-2030 - $14,950,000
• Expansion of King City Fire Station – 2027-2029 - $1,500,000
• Expansion of Nobleton Fire Station – 2029-2030 - $1,300,000
Gravel Road Conversions
Many residents in Ward 3 are interested in having their gravel roads paved. Roads are paved using 90% of DC money and just 10% tax payer dollars, as a result the amount of money collected by the town in DCs is important to note. High interest rates led to less development last year and consequently a lower pool of DC dollars. As rates are coming down, development is increasing and King is expecting more DC money.
Development Charges Projections
Development Charges are collected from new development and are meant to fund the increased costs associated with a growing township.
King only got $800,000 in DCs in 2023 because higher interest rates caused many projects to be delayed, but projects are slowly starting to increase and the town received $2.1 million in 2024.
Projections are difficult to make and are based on conversations with developers so the town can predict what revenue can be anticipated to fund various projects. King is doing new Master Plans for Parks & Rec, Water, and Transportation which will help inform the updated DC Charges document which will be done in 2026. The DC revenue projection for 2025 is just over $10m which assumes that 329 units get approved and started next year. Most new units are in King City with some in Nobleton and none in Schomberg.
The new service-based approach to the budget allows residents to see exactly how tax dollars are used. Note that of the money that King collects, 17% goes to the School Board, 43% goes to York Region, and 40% stays in the township.
Using a residential property worth $1,000,000 as an example, the 2025 tax estimate would be $8,903 with $1,530 going to the School Board, $3,784 to York Region and $3,589 staying in King. Below is a chart showing how King spends that $3,589.
New Motions:
1) Rural Road Safety Program
I introduced a motion seconded by Councillor Asselstine that was passed by council. The motion requests that the Government of Ontario take action to implement the Good Roads rural road safety program.
Council heard a presentation from Scott Butler, Good Roads Executive Director, who explained that the organization was established 130 years ago and was the original municipal association in the country and is primarily concerned with roads at local level.
Collectively, members manage 310,000 lane km of roads in Ontario.
Good Roads has been trying to engage the province to re-image how it works with municipalities to make roads safe. Rural roads in particular are dangerous as detailed in the Ministry of Road Safety Report. This year's edition included statistics from 2021 and revealed that the number of deaths increased in the last year from 530 to 616 and the number of people hurt has grown from 32,000 to 36,000. In addition, 4,645 people were admitted to hospital for almost 52,000 days of hospital care (141 years of care). Most concerning is that a disproportionate amount of these events happened on rural roads. Though only 17% of people in Ontario live in rural communities, 61% of people killed on roads in Ontario are killed on rural roads.
According to the American Transportation Research Board - the gold standard - rural road safety programs provide a 35:1 hard cost economic benefit.
Should Ontario adopt the Good Roads program it would allow road safety auditors to come and work with King staff to identify problems sections of the road network and suggest solutions based on available budget. The program would review site lines, signage, illumination, guiderails and more.
2) Bail Reform - Moved by Councillor Boyd and seconded by Mayor Pellegrini passed by council.
Now therefore be it resolved that:
Council request the Federal Government and the Provincial Government to come together to ensure that all bail reform changes made as part of Bill C-48 are being effectively implemented, resourced, and are meeting the goals and outcomes intended in the legislation.
Council request the Attorney General of Ontario and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to ensure that bail decisions take into account potential risks to public safety and that imposed conditions are enforceable and sufficient to protect the community.
The Council requests that the Federal Government to consider the Provincial Government’s recent call to action, dated October 28, 2024, regarding the implementation of additional measures to enhance public safety.
A copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Prime Minister of Canada, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Premier of Ontario, the Attorney General of Ontario, and the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services for their consideration and necessary action.
A copy of this resolution be forwarded to all local area municipalities in York Region, including York Region itself and to York Regional Police, for their information and support.
New Business:
Ward 2 - Nobleton Tree Lighting will be held on December 8th
Ward 3 - I asked by-law to do another bag sign blitz to remove the many bag signs that have appeared across the township. By-law has requested the people take pictures of the signs and email them to serviceking@king.ca so that they can follow-up with the company owners.
Ward 4 - The Schomberg Tree lighting will be held on Dec. 1 and Main Street Parade on December 8th - volunteers are needed. Please email info@schomberg.ca
Ward 5 - The pedestrian cross walk is now functioning on Keel south of King rd. Now you can park at the King City Community Centre and walk across King Rd to enjoy the stores on both sides. Also very happy that there has been Whistle Cessation. This required an inordinate amount of staff time following up with Metrolinx to get the job done.
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