{"id":9138,"date":"2014-11-26T23:08:30","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T04:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=9138"},"modified":"2014-12-03T17:39:26","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T22:39:26","slug":"politics-as-usual-ratepayers-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/politics-as-usual-ratepayers-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"POLITICS AS USUAL: Ratepayers Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the closure of the Highland Gate Golf Club, residents in the neighbourhood have banded together to form a ratepayers group in order to ensure access to, and equal dissemination, of all relevant information that may impact their community.
\nThere\u2019s been a bit of odd misinformation floating about concerning how or why, or even who can form a ratepayers group. I have been asked a lot of questions about the process of forming a group, so I think a bit of clarity is in order.
\nFirst, what is a ratepayer? In the most general sense, a ratepayer is someone who pays local rates. This is generally construed to be local taxes. The Oxford English Dictionary expands the definition a bit to state that a ratepayer is one who \u201c\u2026pays for a utility service and especially electricity according to established rates.\u201d
\nA ratepayer association then is defined by most municipalities as, \u201c\u2026 an organization formed by a group of people residing in a defined area who have come together to address issues within their boundaries of representation and act as one voice for their particular group and\/or area.\u201d
\nIn other words, residents who live in a particular neighbourhood or community area can form a group to ensure their local interests are identified and addressed. A ratepayer group can be formal \u2013 and registered \u2013 or less formal and not registered. But, both can speak for the people within their group and their respective community.
\nGenerally, these types of groups \u2013
\nregistered or non-registered \u2013 are formed when there is a particular issue of concern within the immediate community. The concern is most often a proposed development \u2013 such as a high rise in the middle of a residential neighbourhood. Sometimes it can be about speeding. Or Train whistles. Or any number of things that may be cause for concern for residents.
\nIn the case of the Highland Gate Golf Course Community Group, it appears that as there is no immediate issue. The group has been formed in an effort to be proactive rather than reactive. The only known piece of information is that the golf course is closed. That\u2019s all. No plans for development have been submitted.
\nHowever, there are obvious concerns about what could happen given what happened in Newmarket and the protracted, and ultimately losing, battle here in Aurora regarding the Westhill property. Thus, the proactive formation of a ratepayers group is sensible. It allows residents to be involved from the outset rather than later in the process when decisions have already been made.
\nRatepayer groups afford residents a means of access to the planning process. It allows them to be kept informed. The executive can act as a conduit of information for the residents, or as an advocate on their behalf. The group can delegate to Council and make the affected residents\u2019 views known. These are all positives.
\nThere is some confusion about who can form a ratepayers group and how complex and legalistic it is. Rest assured, it\u2019s really not a complicated process. If a group of people are united in a concern, they can get together and form an association. If they want to formalize that association, they simply go to the Town Hall, get the necessary forms, get at least 10 \u2013 20 signatures from folks who want to join, elect a board of executives at a public meeting, set the boundaries, then submit the completed forms to the Town Clerk for ratification.
\nThat\u2019s it. You don\u2019t need a phalanx of lawyers to form a committee. Actually, that would defeat the whole purpose of these groups. They are supposed to be accessible. That means anyone can join and anyone can lead. All it takes is time and commitment to doing the work necessary on behalf of their neighbours.
\nUntil next week, stay informed, stay involved because this is – after all – Our Town.<\/p>\n

Alison can be reached at acollinsmrakas@gmail.com<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas With the closure of the Highland Gate Golf Club, residents in the neighbourhood have banded together to form a ratepayers group in order to ensure access to, and equal dissemination, of all relevant information that may impact their community. There\u2019s been a bit of odd misinformation floating about concerning how or why, […]<\/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":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-2no","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 14:34:54","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\/9138","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=9138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}