No grant for Bluewater Health, roundabout delayed again

A bid to get Lambton taxpayers to donate to Bluewater Health through their taxes has failed.

And a roundabout at the corner of Petrolia Line and Kimball Sideroad has been put off for another year.

Lambton County councillors passed the $247 million 2022 budget Wednesday morning without making any changes to it. That’s a 2.5 per cent increase tax increase on the county portion of property tax bills.

That includes $205,907,000 to run the county – the operating budget – and another $41,022,000 for capital projects. Most of increase in spending can be attributed to the Infrastructure and Development, Social Services and Long Term Care departments.

The budget talks usually illicit a lot of question about whether the services provided are necessary or about why one project is granted priority over the other. But today, councillors had few questions after pouring of the inches thick binder for the past two weeks.

And while councillors seemed satisfied by the spending plan, they were not willing to take a second look at a Bluewater Health request for funding.

No Hospital Funding

In 2020, Bluewater Health was looking for a $10 million grant over 10 years. It planned to spend the cash in a number of places including the redevelopment of Bluewater Health’s Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital.

But county councillors put off the request – and any new community grants – in the 2021 and 2022 budgets.

Loosley and Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley wanted county councillors to reconsider. But their pleas fell on deaf ears.

That seemed to anger Loosley. “I want to make it clear that I cannot support money going to the Strathroy hospital if we are not going to support our local hospital,” he told councillors. Five years ago, county councillors approved a $1 million grant over 10 years to the hospital which is widely used by people in Warwick and Brooke-Alvinston.

Loosley was frustrated council wouldn’t even discuss the issue. “It’s a little disappointing, it is making me feel that this county council does not support our local hospital. And I’ve heard how some councillors have stated they do support the hospital but yet voted against it, including you, Warden (Kevin) Marriott, to not even consider – I’m just a bit disappointed.”

Loosley also failed in a bid to have the tax increase to be reduced to the same as last year’s 1.9 per cent.

Roundabout at Petrolia and Kimball delayed again

A bid to have a roundabout built at the corner of Petrolia Line and Kimball Sideroad was also pushed back to the 2023 budget. An accident in May 2020 prompted neighbours to start a petition to get the county to make improvements to the intersection. There had been dozens of accidents – many of them fatal – in the past.

St. Clair Mayor Steve Arnold, who had championed the idea in 2020, suggested the roundabout plans be pushed back to 2023 during Wednesday’s meeting. The $1.8 million project had also been deferred during the 2021 budget talks.

What’s in the 2022 budget

The budget includes putting $18.5 million into various reserves to finance large, necessary projects in the future or to pay for unexpected opportunities and emergencies. That will mean the county will end up with $54 million in total – about $1.3 million more than at the end of 2021.

One of the big items Lambton is saving for is long term care. Lambton Meadowview Villa is the first building to be replaced. County officials have begun planning and expect it could cost $50 million.

The county is also putting away $500,000 so it can purchase the county shared services building in Sarnia when the lease expires, should it wish to. That’s a $23 million expense.

Lambton also needs to pump up to $39.4 million into affordable housing by 2031.

Treasurer Larry Palarchio is also concerned there could be future cost increases as the provincial government changes how it funds children’s services. The Ford government, before the pandemic, also talked about decreasing how much money it provided to public health units from 75 per cent now to 70 per cent. That plan was shelved as the province dealt with COVID-19.

Palarchio says the federal and provincial grants for infrastructure projects are also expected to decline in the future.

In his assessment for council Feb. 16, Palarchio said the cost pressures and revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic were projected to continue in 2022. The pandemic, he said, piled on an addition $14.8 million dollars in costs. That includes the increases in public health spending, help for long term care homes – like screening, testing and pandemic pay. Social Services also used extra cash for homelessness initiatives and child care.

All but $300,000 of that was covered by COVID-19 grants from federal and provincial governments, something he expects will continue.

There are other issues on the horizon. Canada’s inflation rate continues to climb and Palarchio says it will affect the county operation.

But he says Lambton is in good financial shape, particularly when it comes to its debt. By law, the county could carry as much as $90 million in debt if it chose. That would mean about $19 million in yearly debt servicing charges.
Instead, Lambton is expected to pay about $5.3 million for its yearly interest and principal on the $20.8 million debt.

Palarchio says that’s a good thing considering most economist believe the Bank of Canada will need to raise interest rates this year to slow the growth in the rate of inflation. It now stands at five per cent.