Mayor’s roundtable addresses affordability in Norfolk County

A committee meant to come up with creative ways to make life more affordable in Norfolk County met for the first time on Tuesday.

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The first ever Mayor’s Affordability Roundtable is the brainchild of Norfolk Mayor Amy Martin. Chaired by Coun. Kim Huffman, the group will spend the next few months looking for efficiencies in the municipality that could help with the development of new housing, the creation of new policy, and strategies to lobby higher levels of government for increased funding.

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“We want to turn over every stone to ensure we’re providing affordable options to our neighbors, community members and our friends,” Martin told roundtable members.

“There’s no end for the taxpayers of Norfolk County. I want to have a really frank, open public discussion because property taxes are going to continue to increase and water and wastewater bills are going to continue to increase. To be able to sleep at night, I need to know we had the hard discussions.”

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The roundtable will function as an advisory body that will make recommendations to Norfolk County Council.

Members of the roundtable include Martin, Huffman, and those selected from some 50 applicants for the other seats. They include local realtor Nicole Slade; George Araujo, executive director of the United Way of Haldimand and Norfolk; mortgage agent Sarita Free; social worker Kate Fleming; Waterford business owner Paul Hrvoyevich; Holly Schell; and Bill Helmeczi.

“I see families struggling every day,” said Slade while introducing herself. “I’ve seen a huge influx of people selling because they can no longer afford the home they were in with interest rates and the price of housing. I see it every day with children who go to school with my children. Affordability seems to be getting farther and farther away. I want to see if there’s anything we can do to offset it.”

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While Tuesday’s meeting was meant to be an introductory session, upcoming meetings will focus on specific topics. They are:

• March 25 – Identifying ways the county can provide in-kind services to residents, “making life more affordable.”
• April 30 – Development and housing.
• May 28 – Partnership opportunities with local businesses, not-for-profits, developers and other organizations.
• June 25 – Lobbying the upper levels of government.
• Sept. 24 – Final meeting/summary of information gathered/finalize motions to be brought to council.

While Martin said the county is looking for creative solutions, suggestions and partnerships to come out of the public discussions, she stressed the roundtable needs to focus on recommendations that don’t cost the municipality money.

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“The work we’re about to do here isn’t meant to add to the municipal burden. It defeats the purpose to have a discussion about affordability if the solution is to add tax dollars onto the levy.”

Roundtable members were given a primer on Norfolk County’s troubling finances, including its $59 million annual shortfall to reserves, increased debt servicing costs, and a 10-year capital plan that has increased to $1 billion, to be significantly financed by debt.

At the same time, Norfolk County residents earn about $20,000 less per household than the provincial average and combined tax and water rates are higher than most municipal comparators.

Martin said she’d like the roundtable to spread the word about its goals and to bring in not-for-profit groups, service clubs, and residential developers to talk about ways they can work with the county to help tackle rising costs for Norfolk residents . The mayor referenced a long list of suggestions garnered through community feedback.

“There are lots of great things in here that are zero dollars.”

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