Members of Grey Highlands council agree: stable and predictable provincial infrastructure funding would be a huge help to local municipalities.
At its meeting on Feb. 5, council received a report from Bobbi Scully, the municipality’s grant coordinator. In her report, Scully outlined the various grant applications her department has submitted in an effort to secure funding for a wide array of projects.
During discussion on the report, Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen noted that at the recent Association of Municipalities (AMO) and Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conferences there was a lot of discussion about the need for the province to improve its game when it comes to infrastructure funding.
Nielsen said the province needs to “rethink its funding network” and noted municipalities must have “stable, regular funding.”
“Unfortunately the system we have now is a lottery system,” said Nielsen, pointing out that across the province municipalities write grant applications, like purchasing lottery tickets, and hope to secure funding for important projects. “We’re all in the same boat. It is challenging.”
Nielsen said the province needs to re-think its funding methods and said organizations like AMO and ROMA have made extensive lobbying efforts on the issue.
“We cannot rely on grants to be our saviour,” he said.
Funding for infrastructure and capital projects has been the main theme of the 2025 budget process in Grey Highlands.
In its draft 2025 budget, Grey Highlands is proposing to dramatically increase the amount it collects from property taxpayers for capital infrastructure projects. As it stands now, the draft budget projects a 16.8 per cent local tax increase, with close to 10 per cent of that increase being for capital/infrastructure funding.
“There is no shortage of projects that require funding,” commented Coun. Tom Allwood.
In the meantime, Grey Highlands staff continue to burn the midnight oil and look at all possible sources of grant funding to help move projects along.
In her report, Scully said in the fourth quarter of 2024, Grey Highlands had submitted a total of 11 grant applications for more than $6.4 million. Thus far, they have secured just over $27,000 in funding, with the results of six applications still pending.
Scully also reported that so far in the early weeks of 2025, staff have already submitted two grant applications with plenty more to come as program deadlines approach.