Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce on City Budget

Nearly 90% of our members are small businesses with less than 25 employees.  These organizations are the lifeblood of our city providing the services, supplies and supports that make Thunder Bay such an amazing place to live, work and play.

Business of all sizes, but in particular small businesses, are facing a challenging, and in some cases uncertain, future as employers look for ways to adjust to the dramatically increasing costs of running a business in Ontario.  In 2017, the introduction of a cap and trade tax added to the delivery cost of every product and the heating costs of every business operation.

This year, implementation of new Employment Standards legislation are increasing costs for all businesses and will hit those in the food, hospitality and service industries the hardest with an over 22% hike in the minimum wage, to be followed next year by a further 7% for a combined 33% increase in less than 18 months.

Even though the majority of municipal employees are not at the minimum wage, the City has calculated a 1.2 million dollar increase in its costs because of this legislative change.  With that in mind, take a moment to think of the costs implications for your favourite local grocer, restaurant, hair salon, and retailer and the additional sales required to make up the difference.  It’s a staggering thought!

We submit this perspective because it is through this reality that small business owners and operators, and their employees are considering the 2018 municipal budget, user fee increases, and the proposed 2.9 percent tax levy increase.

The Corporation of the City of Thunder Bay is facing challenges too.  On the income side, the loss of tax revenues through reassessments are cutting into city collections, while inflation and other cost increases mean every dollar buys a little bit less as the expense side creeps upward.  This combination is making it harder to continue to provide the breadth of city services that citizens are accustomed to, at a level of taxation that the community can afford.

We appreciate the efforts that have been made by Council and Administration in recent years to implement cost controls.  The $12.4 million dollars in savings that have been found to date continue to benefit all taxpayers year over year.

Our members are asking that these efforts be expanded by focusing on core municipal services over non-essential items, eliminating duplication, streamlining processes, and implementing new technologies to find efficiencies.

In reviewing the proposed budget package, we were concerned to see a serious disconnect between Council’s stated desire for future assessment growth and the proposal of fee increases of up to 50% on some of those development opportunities.

Furthermore, the proposed 9% increase in business license fees at a time when affected businesses such as food service establishments are already struggling to adjust to massive labour cost increases, suggests a lack of understanding of and sensitivity to the burdens that local entrepreneurs are facing at this time.  It is important to highlight that these same businesses are high volume water users who will be facing a 3% increase in both water and sewer surcharges in addition to a 3% increase in landfill tipping fees for the private collection of their garbage.

Our request to you is three-fold:

• Reject the drastic increases proposed on official plan and zoning by-law amendment fees as we believe that such increases would send a negative message to potential investors and developers and could deter growth opportunities;
• Refuse to add to the burden of struggling small businesses by maintaining the business licence fees at the current rate; and,
• Reduce the tax levy increase to a maximum of 2% by finding further cost reductions.

These three steps would recognize the challenges of both business owners and the community at large to manage the increasing costs that we are all facing at this time.

We all love this community and we want to achieve our shared vision of a city that is connected, healthy, vibrant, and strong.  We wish you well as you work through the budget with that vision in mind.

Thank you for your consideration of our suggestions.

Charla Robinson
President, Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce