The Hastings County committee overseeing planning and development is looking for a budget increase in 2023.
At its meeting on Tuesday, the Planning and Development committee rejected a bid for a higher budget hike, and decided to go for a 4.79 per cent increase.
The other motion had called for a six per cent hike, but it went down to defeat.
The motion approving the 4.79 per cent increase will go to County Council for final approval, at a meeting later this month.
The budget report to the committee outlined a number of items for 2023 – see below:
Watson and Associates Economists Ltd. have been contracted to prepare a Regional Growth Analysis together with the City of Quinte West, City of Belleville and Prince Edward County. This comprehensive growth analysis will form a foundational document to a number of planning and community infrastructure studies currently underway or planned within the economic region.
The County provides a wide range of services to its 14 member municipalities, the cities of Belleville, Quinte West and in the case of Paramedic Services to Prince Edward County. These services (POA, Community and Human Services, Emergency Services, Long-term Care, Planning) are delivered under several different agreements and cost sharing arrangements. The departments that deliver these services are supported by the following central administrative and legislative groups:
Through 2020 to 2022, the department has seen significant increases in the volume of planning applications. This is anticipated to continue through 2023. While this poses some workload pressures, the revenues received through application fees are also increasing which helps offset expenses.
The cost to provide 9-1-1 services is allocated based on population between Hastings County, the City of Belleville, the City of Quinte West and 8 Wing CFB Trenton.
In addition to call volumes, as technology continues to evolve and improve, there are more ways to access E911 services. Correspondingly, the regulatory regime is becoming increasingly complex as more regulations (e.g. texting to 911 and next generation 911) are mandated at the federal level. This includes requirements for texting to 911 and more recently, requirements for next generation 911 which eventually will include sending pictures and videos. While these mandates improve 911 services, at a municipal level these mandates require significant time to educate, train, and coordinate their implementation.
Purchased Services: This line represents the cost of the contract with Northern 911 for our 911 answering service, Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The contract was renewed in April 2017 for a 5-year term, with an option for automatic renewal for two one-year periods. 911 staff will be preparing an RFP for 911 answering services this year to ensure we have a provider in place in when our current contract ends in April 2024.
The SMART Goals to guide Economic and Tourism Development activities were approved by Council in August 2021. They were developed after one-on-one meetings with all fourteen members of County Council and currently Economic Development staff are undertaking an update to the department’s SMART Goals.
The 2023 Budget includes the following highlights that continue to support the costs of implementing the SMART Goals:
Marketing Plan : The budget supports marketing directly to seasonal residents including cottage owners/renters and campers and to also make sure they know what’s available to purchase locally. Utilizing the County’s new website, to be launched this spring, the budget supports marketing purchasable attractions, things to see and do, where to shop, eat and where to stay. Digital and printed materials will be distributed through cottage/lake property owners’ associations, campgrounds/resorts, municipal offices and businesses who cater to seasonal residents in order to lure them to the new website or provide resources and guides on where in Hastings County to shop, eat, stay, and explore.
With matching funding from the Ontario Government, the budget supports a campaign targeting people outside of our area, as well as existing residents, seasonal residents and others already visiting here to attract them to open a business in one of our vacant storefronts. This also includes marketing to purchase an existing business or move an existing business to one of our available locations in Hastings County. Working with member municipalities and local business associations, a highlight of this campaign will be the continued development and installation of Artistic Illustrations on vacant and willing building owners’ commercial storefront windows. This will help draw attention, increase the number of enquiries about opening a business and help increase community pride and beautification.
The budget also supports the costs of publishing a start-up business kit to help guide new business owners in their journey and also act as a creative marketing tool for the services of the Small Business Coordinator.
The Economic Development Department has submitted an application to the Rural Economic Development (RED) for $25,000 in matching funds to support the costs of a paid and promoted campaign to showcase business and investment opportunities across the County.
The County now has full ownership of the trails and recognizes the Trails are integral to supporting the Tourism sector. As a result, the budget continues with a commitment of $25,000/year towards the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance and $15,000 to purchase portions of the CP and Hastings Heritage Trails that have title issues.
The Hastings County Plowing Match ($4,000) and Bancroft Area Forest Industry Association (BAFIA) ($4,000) are supported through this budget line. In addition, Harvest Hastings receives funding ($12,000) to support promotions of local food and locally grown products and coordinate workshops. Natural Resources and Agriculture are key elements recognized in the Economic Development Action Plan. Funding these organizations recognizes the impact they have throughout the County.
The budget supports working with the local tourism industry and businesses in the development and expansion of key local assets. This includes winter experiences such as cross-country skiing and snowmobiling “getaways”, cycling routes, paddling infrastructure, multi-day road trips and itineraries to lure tourists and increase spending in our member municipalities. The budget also supports industry education including workshops on experiential tourism development, elevating their visitor experience and sessions on how to improve their digital presence to increase revenues. The budget supports the work by staff to equip businesses with industry specific information, tourism trends, digital literacy and tangible ways to elevate their visitor offering with an aim to encourage and empower business growth and sustain and grow the commercial tax base.
Activities to support investment in food and beverage businesses, and help local agribusiness grow, are funded through this budget line. This includes: supporting a Viticulture Seminar and creation of a winery start-up handbook with on-site course and winemaking to generate interest to establish more wineries in Hastings County.
The County received two requests for funding. The first is from the Bancroft and Area Forest Industry Association requesting to cover an additional $6,000 to cover their increased programing cost. The second request is from Hastings Destination Trail Inc. (HDTI) requesting $9,000 to fund their activities. These requests for funding have not been including in the 2023 Economic Development budget.
