Staff recommends Welland Council be cut in half for 2026; Niagara Falls wants residents to prioritize Parks & Rec projects in 2025 budget; West Lincoln has first by-election candidate
Niagara Democracy Watch is The Pointer’s weekly feature aimed at increasing the public’s awareness and political involvement in the Niagara Region by highlighting key agenda items, motions and decisions.
Council Meeting
Date: September 3 - 7:00 p.m. | Delegate | Full agenda | Watch live
Could big changes be coming to Welland council?
Welland City Council will consider a report on their September 3rd agenda that could see the council composition chopped in half from 12 councillors and mayor to 6 councillors and mayor, as per a recommendation from staff.
The report was in response to a Notice of Motion brought forward by Councillor Leo Van Vliet (Ward 2) at the April 9th Council Meeting, in which staff was directed “to provide council with options on a reduced council size, with the sole objective to reduce the cost on the taxpayer.”
Councillor Van Vliet’s motion came shortly after the annual report on council remuneration and expenditures, required of all Ontario municipalities by the end of March each year. In 2023, the total remuneration and expenditures of Welland Council totalled $560,796.
“Those costs keep going up,” Van Vliet stated at the time.
Welland currently has six wards, represented by two councillors per ward. The suggested change would see this reduced to one councillor per ward, but would also include a review of ward boundaries due to changing population distribution making the wards less equitable.
The motion was seconded by Councillor Jamie Lee (Ward 6) and the other councillors that spoke that evening were generally receptive to a future staff report on the possibility. Councillor Tony DiMarco (Ward 4) seemed especially enthused, uttering an emphatic “thank you” and indicating that he had raised the issue of a council reduction numerous times without success. He went further suggesting council be reconfigured into eight wards, with eight representatives. Councillor David McLeod (Ward 2) also made a number of suggestions, including that staff consider the possibility of dual councillors, that would sit on Welland Council and at the upper-tier Niagara Regional Council; as well as having an at-large system, which eliminates ward boundaries.
Third-term Councillor John Chiocchio (Ward 3) said that while he had no issue with a staff report, council had been down the road of governance review many times previously without resulting in any changes. He stated that if councillors were concerned about their cost to the taxpayer, they might as well resign mid-term and not wait for the eventual staff report.
The motion was passed without opposition, with staff promising to investigate all the various suggestions raised by council members.
Monday’s report makes a firm recommendation that council approve the reduction in size to six councillors and mayor for the 2026 Municipal Election. If approved, staff would begin a ward boundary review based on this reduced council composition, including options for a ward-based, or an at-large system.
Staff’s rationale for the reduction in council members is partly due to Welland’s over-representation based on a lower residents-per-councillor ratio. With a current population of 57,933 residents and 12 councillors, there is one councillor for every 4,828 residents. The ratios are substantially higher in the two other large lower-tier Niagara municipalities, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, where there is one councillor for more than 11,000 residents. Niagara Falls, with a population of 94,415, has a smaller council than Welland, with eight councillors and the mayor. Other comparator municipalities from elsewhere in the province identified by staff have similarly higher residents-per councillor ratios.
As per council’s direction, staff looked at different configurations, with a five-person council, the smallest permitted under the Municipal Act; a seven-person council, which would align with the current ward structure; and a nine-person council.
Staff reported that the total financial expense of the 13-member council in 2024 is approximately $631,848, which includes councillor remuneration, professional development, mileage, allowances, pension, benefits, health tax, and cell phone. Not surprisingly, the smallest council size would realize the most savings of $339,000. Staff’s recommended 7-person council would mean $254,250 in savings, taking a little more than half a percentage point (0.52 percent) off the tax rate.
At the April 9th council meeting, while supporting a possible seven-person council, Councillor Chiocchio intimated that the six ward councillors might have to be full-time. The staff report contemplates councillors, other than the mayor, remaining part-time.
The staff report concludes that the seven-person council is the “most optimal solution” because it meets the intent of the April motion regarding potential cost savings and any subsequent ward boundary review could be easily accommodated under the current structure of six wards, as opposed to having to configure the municipality for a different number of wards.
The seven-person council will increase the residents-per-councillor ratio to 9,656.
In order for the changes to be implemented for the municipal election in 2026, Welland Council will have to approve bylaws related to council composition and/or ward structure by December 31, 2025. A bylaw changing council composition is not appealable and there is no requirement for a statutory public meeting before approval.
If the municipality passes a bylaw changing the ward structure, notice must be given to the public and there is an opportunity for an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). Any appeals will have to be resolved by December 31, 2025 for the changes to be effective for the 2026 municipal election.
The last Niagara municipality to undergo a major electoral change was Niagara Falls. In 2002, the Council passed a bylaw reducing its size from 12 councillors and the mayor to eight councillors and the mayor. A bylaw eliminating the municipality’s ward system for an at-large system was upheld by the Ontario Municipal Board (now the OLT).
One concern expressed at the April meeting, raised by Councillor Sharmita Setaram (Ward 3), was the possible impact of the regional governance review as overseen by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The councillor said any local proposal might be for naught if the Province decided to impose governance changes on lower-tier municipalities.
The staff report does not foresee any such impact, declaring that while the Province has directed municipalities to find efficiencies, reducing the Council size would “proactively align to the interests put forth by the province.”
The staff report can be read here.
Welland council going virtual
The next four Welland Council meetings will be strictly virtual with the temporary closure of Council Chambers. Technology upgrades and improvements to the chamber’s acoustics are being undertaken to support individuals with hearing impairments.
The public is encouraged to access meeting agendas and livestream through the City’s website. In a media release, Tara Stephens, Director of Legislative Services/City Clerk stated, “We understand the importance of these meetings to our community and are making every effort to minimize disruption during this upgrade period.”
The Council meetings scheduled for September 3rd, 10th, and 17th, as well as October 1st, will be held virtually. The council chamber is expected to reopen for the October 22nd general committee meeting.
City seeks community input on Parks, Recreation and Culture projects
Despite a recent warning from the City’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) that any discretionary cuts to the 2025 budget would likely come in the Parks and Recreation area, Niagara Falls has launched a pilot project that will see residents provide input on how they would allocate $350,000 from the City’s Capital Budget to enhance parks and trails across the city.
In 2021, a Recreation, Culture & Parks Plan was completed to direct spending and decision making about these services in the municipality until 2031. While 98 initiatives were suggested in the guiding document, staff have identified 17 from the plan that could be funded through the Community Decision Making pilot program. The projects range in size from updating a pool or skateboard park to erecting a Little Free Library in a park location.
Under the premise that “residents know their community's needs better than anyone”, locals can go online with a hypothetical $350,000 and determine how the money would be spent. Residents can choose to allocate the entire amount to one project or spread the money over a combination of items totaling $350,000.
The online voting tool is limited to Niagara Falls residents. Voting is open until September 18, 2024. The projects receiving the most funding will be prioritized, accordingly.
At their most recent meeting on August 13th, Niagara Falls Council got its first peek at the 2025 municipal budget. Staff was seeking direction to prepare budget options ranging from a 3.9 percent (the amount that the tax rate would have to be raised without any new initiatives) to 6 percent operating increase, along with a 1 percent capital levy increase. The 3.9 percent equates to $3.5 million in expenditures.
The upper limit was too rich for Councillor Victor Pietrangelo, who advocated for an inflationary budget increase. Councillor Lori Lococo argued that the City should be looking at “zero based budgeting”, in which all expenses need to be justified.
“We need to look at everything, all over again,” she suggested.
“Either we raise taxes or cut services,” Mayor Jim Diodati stated.
In 2024, council raised taxes 3.9 percent, in line with the rate of inflation at the time. The year prior, residents saw the highest increase in recent memory at 7.9 percent, which included a 0.5 percent increase to the capital levy. Councillor Pietrangelo indicated that council had been promised inflationary increases going forward after the substantial increase in 2023.
CAO Jason Burgess noted that a zero percent increase to the budget was not necessarily hard for staff to come up with, but it meant service level cuts of four percent. Mr. Burgess added that staff intend to bring forward a budget “that looks a little different” this year, highlighting the service levels or key performance indicators (KPIs) associated with various municipal expenditures. He indicated that the majority of council’s budgetary discretion rested in Parks and Recreation initiatives, so if council was looking at cuts it would come in that area of the operation.
Council eventually settled on directing staff to prepare budget options ranging from a 3 percent to 4.5 percent increase in operating and a 1 percent capital levy increase during the 2025 budget process.
The Community Decision Making Collaborative Budgeting page can be accessed here.
Past reporting:
Candidate emerges in West Lincoln by-election
While nominations have been open since August 13th, the day after West Lincoln Council passed a bylaw to conduct a by-election to fill the vacancy left by Ward 3 (Smithville) Councillor Terry Bell, no one had come forward to contest the November 4th vote. That was until last week.
Greg Maychak, a 64-year-old resident in the ward, filed his nomination papers earlier last week.
Relatively new to the community, Mr. Maychak moved to West Lincoln four years ago after retiring from the City of Hamilton where he had worked for 35 years. Maychak was Manager of Sport and Community development, programming parks and arenas and overseeing several recreation centres. He also was seconded to various special projects, most notably, as lead staff manager for the 2015 Pan Am Games when Hamilton hosted the soccer event at Tim Hortons Field.
Mr. Maychak has continued to be involved, volunteering for various committees, but most of the activity has been in Hamilton. He told The Pointer he felt it was time to contribute to his new home.
“I do so much work in my former community. This is our home now. I think it's important to give back to this community. We have fallen in love with not only the town but its people. When I saw the sign up for the by-election, with my background in municipal government and my involvement with the community, I thought my skills and my attributes might be able to benefit this community. That's why I decided to put my name forward.”
Maychak was very complimentary of the existing Township Council and said, if elected, he looked forward to being part of the team and working on common goals. He plans on campaigning door to door and will likely set up a website.
Nominations for the Ward 3 (Smithville) council vacancy are open until 2:00 p.m. on September 20, 2024.
In-person voting will be conducted using traditional paper ballots and vote tabulators. The Township is conducting two advanced voting dates, on October 25th and 26th, as well as by-election day on November 4th.
Advance Poll #1: In-person voting on Friday, October 25th, 2024, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., at West Lincoln Community Centre, 177 West St., Smithville
Advance Poll #2: In-person voting on Saturday, October 26th, 2024, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., at Legion Villa 2, 171 Mill St., Smithville
By-election Day: In-person voting on Monday, November 4th, 2024, from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., at West Lincoln Community Centre, 177 West St., Smithville
West Lincoln’s By-Election page can be found here.
Email: [email protected]
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