GUELPH/WELLINGTON – The ripple effect from the Guelph mayor's use of strong mayor powers has left the county’s social services with a “next to impossible” task of reducing next year’s proposed spending increase.
Last November Guelph passed a four-year multi-year budget that included a 2025 tax levy increase of 9.8 per cent over 2024.
In February Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie used his strong mayor powers to direct staff to bring forward a 2025 budget that was no more than a four per cent tax levy increase over 2024, split proportionally between the city and the relatively independent local boards and shared services agencies, including the County of Wellington Social Services which services Guelph and Wellington County.
At the inaugural joint social services and land ambulance committee meeting Wednesday afternoon, county treasurer Ken DeHart explained a memo from the City of Guelph requested a cap of under $1.5 million on the increase in spending for social services in 2025 due to Guthrie’s direction.
However, the county’s 10-year operating and capital forecast put next year’s spending increase at $3.5 million.
“We wanted to raise that early in the year to indicate that it would be nearly next to impossible to meet that budgetary guideline with all the items you’ve heard today, pressures particularly in housing and homelessness,” DeHart told the committee.
The treasurer was referencing multiple items heard through the inaugural meeting which saw the newly formed committee made up of half Guelph councillors and half county councillors meet for the first time and had multiple Guelph staff members present.
The committee was given an overview of social services which included hearing about the more than 3,000 applicants on the growing waiting list for housing and how long some people are on it, even if they are on the special priority list.
“There’s 89 individuals that are either experiencing domestic violence or sex trafficking (on the waiting list), a few years ago we used to be able to house them in three months, now it’s taking us about a year and a half,” said Luisa Artuso, social services administrator.
Artuso also noted there’s about 450 seniors over the age of 65 on the list and are waiting on average eight years. There’s also an increase in the number of families experiencing homelessness.
Mark Poste, director of housing, noted a single person on Ontario Works receives $733 per month in living costs while rents for one bedroom apartments are approaching an average of $2,000 per month in the region, which he said is putting people at risk of homelessness.
To top it off, the committee also learned of the reduction of the federal Reaching Home funding which is for communities to prevent and reduce homelessness. A report showed the county uses this for rent supplements for 80 households and to pay for some staff positions at Wyndham House, Stepping Stone and the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre.
The funding would go from $1.64 million in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 down to $325,283 in 2026-2027 and 2027-2028.
On the topic of the budget direction, Wellington County Warden Andy Lennox said they will need to determine what the needs are and how to best make a case for how they can be met.
“I think our focus needs to be on the clients we are serving and how we could do that most effectively which I believe we already focus on,” Lennox said. “We’ll have to see how that plays out from the city’s perspective.”
It’s a learning process for the city too, Guelph CAO Scott Stewart pointed out while stressing this isn’t a direction but a request for them to adhere to that has been sent out to the other local boards and shared service agencies.
“As Scott has alluded to, this is new and I think we should just receive this for information,” Lennox said. “We recognize that we’re made aware of it and we will then take appropriate steps as we go forward.”
The committee unanimously approved receiving the memo as information but Guthrie had stepped out of the meeting earlier and was not present for the vote.
Following the meeting, Artuso said it would be too early to speculate on how the city’s request would be achieved but conceded it will make the 2025 budget process challenging.
