{"id":23302,"date":"2019-03-21T18:01:27","date_gmt":"2019-03-21T22:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=23302"},"modified":"2019-03-28T12:57:04","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T16:57:04","slug":"one-time-1-tax-hike-could-help-finance-library-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/one-time-1-tax-hike-could-help-finance-library-square\/","title":{"rendered":"One-time 1% tax hike could help finance Library Square"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The redevelopment of\nLibrary Square, including a three-storey addition to the Church Street School,\ncould top an estimated $37.9 million budget \u2013 but a Federal grant could offset costs\nby more than $14 million \u2013 along with a one-time tax hike of 1 per cent in\n2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, according to a\nfinancial strategy set to be presented at a Special Council meeting this\nThursday, March 21, dedicated to Library Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, municipal\nstaff will recommend to Council the approval of the addition at a cost of $27.2\nmillion, the creation of an outdoor space, including water features and a\ntrail-shaped ice rink, at a cost of $8.36 million, and a new strategy to\naddress parking concerns at a cost of $87,882.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout Council\u2019s\nextended debate over each of these big-ticket items, costs for both\nconstruction and operations, have been in sharp focus and Thursday will provide\nsome clarity with the presentation of a financial strategy to make it all happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report\nfrom Jason Gaertner, Acting Treasurer for the Town of Aurora, estimates to\nbring Library Square to fruition vary between $35.6 to $37.9, but when grants,\nusing money in reserves, and debt financing are combined, only $3.5 million of\nAurora\u2019s Hydro Reserves, will be needed on the final invoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the total\nproposed required investment for the Library Square project is significant, a\nsound funding strategy is essential,\u201d said Mr. Gaertner in his report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first option on\nthe table is a $1.6 million infusion from Development Charges (DCs), money paid\nby incoming developers to account for future municipal growth. The bulk of the\nmoney in this option, if approved by Council, will come from DCs set aside for\nlibrary use. DC reserves dedicated for Parks Development are current in a\nnegative balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second component\nis Community Benefit Fees, which are also collected from developers. This\nreserve stands at $2.6 million and staff recommend using this full pot for\nLibrary Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third is the\nproceeds from the sale of municipal lands. Much of this money — $7.1 million \u2013\ncomes from the sale of business lands on Leslie Street, the report notes, and\nthis full amount will be applied to the Library Square project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debt financing is\nanother option on the table. Here, Mr. Gaertner\u2019s report recommends taking on a\n20-year debenture of $6.7 million at a rate of 3.26 per cent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis external debt\nwould subsequently be repaid in a controlled fashion through\u2026the DC funding\nsources and a dedicated one-time tax levy increase of 1 per cent, which would\nbe applied wholly to the 2020 levy, or phased in over two fiscal years,\u201d says\nMr. Gaertner. \u201cOnce this noted debt has been paid off, the equivalent dedicated\ntax levy increase can be removed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should these be\napproved, the Town will then take $3.5 million from the Town\u2019s Hydro Reserves,\nan account currently standing at $31 million, to go the rest of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of its\nsignificant balance and the Town\u2019s ability to invest these funds over a longer\nterm, these funds have become an important contributor to the Town\u2019s annual\ninvestment income, which is utilized to subsidize the Town\u2019s operating budget,\nas well as to further top up all reserve balances,\u201d says Mr. Gaertner.\n\u201cConsequently, any draw on this reserve is likely to have a material impact on\nthe Town\u2019s annual investment income; as well as deteriorate the Town\u2019s general\nreserves health. Keeping this in mind, staff recommend that the utilization of\nthis reserve as a funding source be minimized as much as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revenues from the\nHydro Funds are also being used for the redevelopment of the historic Aurora\nArmoury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the $14\nmillion balance is expected to come from grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn support of this\nmuch-needed new cultural community asset, staff have now submitted the Town\u2019s\ngrant application to the Federal Government\u2019s Canada Cultural Spaces Fund for\nconsideration,\u201d says Mr. Gaertner. \u201cIn this regard, as soon as the addition to\nthe Church Street School project has received final Council approval, a\nfundraising consultant will be hired to conduct a feasibility study and to\nprovide guidance in setting up a community fundraising plan that will work for\nthe Town of Aurora. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn addition, staff\nare investigating another grant opportunity (Building Communities Through arts\n& Heritage \u2013 Legacy Fund) that could potentially be utilized as a funding\nsource in support of the construction of the outdoor space. Staff have already,\nor intend to, approach Provincial and Federal representatives in an effort to\nexplore further potential funding sources for all components of the Library\nSquare project. Depending upon the outcome of fundraising efforts, the Town\nwill adjust its funding plan accordingly in order to ensure sufficient funding\nis available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShould a lower than anticipated grant value be\nultimately awarded, any related funding shortfalls could be drawn from the\nHydro Investment Reserve, or adjustments to the debt portion of the recommended\nfunding strategy could be made.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The redevelopment of Library Square, including a three-storey addition to the Church Street School, could top an estimated $37.9 million budget \u2013 but a Federal grant could offset costs by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-63Q","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 11:48:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}