I have been a resident of the current Municipality of Meaford for over 25 years having recently retired from a 27 year career in health care.
I worked for the Grey-Bruce District Health Council until its restructuring in 1998 and spent 10 years working for the Ministry of Health. During the last two years I have become involved in local organizations and issues. I have been a member of the Board of Directors of the Meaford and District Chamber of Commerce, re-joined the Board of the Golden Town Residential Community, and became involved with the 2010 edition of the Meaford International Film Festival.
I have been concerned with the municipal taxes since before the amalgamation of Meaford, St. Vincent and Sydenham. I am realistic enough to know that taxes are a necessary evil if we are to have services that we expect and need. I question, however, the need to increase them at a rate significantly greater than inflation when the rest of us are constrained but the cost of living. It is clear that we cannot continue to rely on the residential tax base, currently the source of over 90% of revenues. Being on the Chamber of Commerce has made it clear that we need to diversify our source of revenue. The current path of increasing taxes and development levies will act as a deterrent to attracting the very businesses we need to increase our tax base. This has to be revisited if we plan to increase the business in the municipality.
Meaford seems to lack a clear focus on how to proceed and is taking a scatter gun approach to the Meaford Economic Development Strategy and other initiatives with no real idea of how or when they will be completed. The municipality is developing a web-portal, the deadline has changed several times, and there is no clear plan as to what it is to accomplish. The branding exercise that was undertaken began and seemed to appear out of the blue. Also, the approach to economic development also does not appear to have a clear set of objectives, tasks and timelines. Is this approach unnecessarily frittering away money that we don’t have? I would push for a clear systematic, planned approach with clear goals and actions needed to reach them.
Meaford needs to build on its strengths as it moves ahead. We have a downtown with an architectural heritage that is the envy of many communities. We also have a rich resource of talented and committed individuals in Meaford. Whether they are business people, retirees, long term residents or newcomers, they contribute significantly to the community. We have the Scarecrow Invasion, Meaford International Film Festival as well as the Chamber of Commerce sponsored Dragon’s Den Meaford. Encouraging and supporting these committed people will continue to be important for Meaford’s future. I think the library is an important resource for the community and is likely past its prime. Renovation of the existing facility is probably not feasible to upgrade the facility to meet modern library needs. It may, however, be ideal for other uses. I think a new facility can be a focal point for the community. The challenge will be, however, tackling this without increasing the existing tax burden.
Anyone wishing to contact me can reach me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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