FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 6, 2024

Town of Gore Bay approves budget

“Journey to a living example of a thriving full-service community”

The Town of Gore Bay prides itself as a full-service community. To do so, we have invested in many amenities to support recreation, culture, arts, health and wellness, tourism, and senior services programming. We have also invested in our infrastructure, both new and old, to ensure we maintain our brand as a service centre for Western Manitoulin and as a destination of choice.

In the first year of this Council term, a bold strategic plan was developed and in 2023 momentum began in delivering value to the residents and businesses of our community.  Accomplishments include:

• Passing of several important bylaws that promote the appearance and safety of our community
• Modernization of our administration 
• Introduced a new pay structure to attract and retain top talent
• Established a new walking trail, The Lodge Trail
• Improvements to the boardwalk including new bridges
• Installation of a new EV charger
• One of the most successful Harbour days ever 
• Enhancements to our harbour centre, community hall and museum
• We have also partnered with St Josephs Health Care and Jarlette Health Services to work toward the construction of a new 64 bed long term care home. This will ensure we continue to offer this important service to Western Manitoulin residents close to home.

We are continuing to build on this momentum into 2024, with over $2 million in major capital investments planned such as:

• Completion of a new/modern airport terminal 
• New three season public washroom adjacent to the pavilion
• Refurbishment of the Ron McQuarrie Gazebo
• Converting the former water street playground into a landscaped passive waterfront park
• Design to revitalize and beautify our downtown
• Final design of 65 new slips at the marina
• Kinney Street Bridge Restoration
• Design of a West Bluff Trail
• Marina Roof Replacement and Fuel Tank Replacement
• Upgrade the water mains and storm sewers in the north part of town
• Public Works fleet replacement to maintain and improve community safety service levels

In alignment with the bold strategic priorities, we will be investing in the following enhanced services to build on to our existing base services:

• Igniting our Community Spirit by offering more programming and events for all ages
• Developing a comprehensive marketing plan to promote tourism and assist our local economy
• Walking trail maintenance
• Enhancing our youth soccer program
• Investing in our people to attract and retain top talent
• Working with our local doctors and private partners to attract and retain doctors 

A significant portion of your property taxes also fund the following:

• Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board
• Manitoulin Centennial Manor
• Sudbury District Public Health
• Ontario Provincial Police 

To leverage economies of scale, we partner with other municipalities to provide other services such as: 

• Transfer Station (Waste Management)
• Fire Department
• Library
• Airport
• Cemetery
• Provincial Offenses (POA) Gore Bay administers this on behalf of all Manitoulin municipalities

In order to do all these things and to continue as a full-service community the Town has approved a 5.92% property tax increase, which equates to a $13.66 increase per month on the median household assessed value.

Over the past few years, we have depleted all our reserves for our facilities (arena, community hall, town office, public works operation centre, our fleet, and equipment). Our asset management plan indicated we would need to invest an additional 4% each year over the next 20 years to address our gap. To this end, in 2024 we approved a 2% allocation to Capital reserves. This additional funding will increase the total property tax by $18.20 per month per median household assessed value.

To ensure we continue to provide high quality water and sewer services we approved a 7% increase to the rates for 2024. This amounts to a $6.17 increase per month for a residential property.

Mayor Lane provided the following comment on the budget process during the Council Meeting on March 5th, 2024. “In an effort to assist our residents due to the pandemic over the last 3 years total tax increases were 5.5%, while inflation went up 14%. That is an 8.5% gap, and the Town needs at this point to catch up. All investments in this budget ensure we will continue to be a full-service community today and into the future.”

For any questions or inquiries please contact the Town Manager Harry Schlange or the Treasurer Michael Lalonde at the Town Office.