The Blue Mountains council has parked extra money it had approved to spend on a transit deal with the Town of Collingwood.
At its meeting on Jan. 27, council voted 5-2 in favour of removing $75,000 from the 2025 budget for extra costs expected to come with a new agreement to provide a bus service from Collingwood through Craigleith to the village area at Blue Mountain.
Council had provided tentative approval of the $75,000 at a committee of the whole budget meeting on Jan. 14.
The Blue Mountains, Blue Mountain Resort and Blue Mountain Village Association all contribute to the transit agreement with Collingwood. The agreement expired recently and negotiations have been ongoing for a new agreement. In those talks, Collingwood has requested additional funding to support security, terminal costs and specialized transit.
Staff at The Blue Mountains estimated that the additional costs would add $75,000 to the existing transit budget of $100,000. However, with the discussions with Collingwood still ongoing, they didn’t have a precise figure. Staff said once an agreement is reached they would be reporting back to council with the precise details and costs.
With The Blue Mountains facing a projected local tax increase of more than eight per cent, members of council were anxious to find spending cuts to lower the potential tax hike. Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon suggested the $75,000 for the increased transit costs be removed from the budget. He said council could deal with the new costs during the year when the negotiations with Collingwood were complete.
Town staff ensured council that the current bus service would continue uninterrupted during negotiations. Once a new agreement is reached, staff said they would bring a full report back to council with options for how to fund the additional costs for the service.
Council approved the plan in a 5-2 vote. Councillors Paula Hope and Shawn McKinlay were opposed.
McKinlay noted that by removing the $75,000, council was essentially budgeting for a transit deficit.
“If it’s not in there, we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul here,” said McKinlay. “I’m not (in favour) of scrapping this,” said McKinlay, adding that he preferred the amount remain in the budget to ensure the funds were in place to deal with the increased transit costs when the new agreement is complete.