durhamregion.com | This Week | Thursday, October 27, 2022 | 2 P: 905-430-4300 E: info@whitby.ca whitby.ca What You Need To Know This Week in Whitby Mark your calendars to get in the festive spirit with the following upcoming events: Downtown Whitby BIA's Christmas Market | December 3 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and December 4 from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Celebration Square in front of the Whitby Public Library (405 Dundas St. W.) Whitby Santa Claus Parade | December 3 starting at 10 a.m. (organized by The Optimist Club of Brooklin) Learn more at whitby.ca/Events Apply For A Community Grant Community groups do so much good in our Town! To help them continue their important work, we are offering Community Development grants of up to $25,000. Mayor's Fundraiser grant applications are due by December 31, 2022. whitby.ca/CommunityFunds Property Tax Rebate Program Qualifying Whitby homeowners can now receive a $462 rebate per year. This program is available for low-income seniors eligible for the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) or low-income homeowners with disabilities enrolled in the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). For more information or to apply, visit whitby.ca/TaxRebatesAndRelief Register For March Break Camp Get your spot early! Registration for March Break Camp begins December 7. Camps run March 13 to 17 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Brooklin Community Centre and Library. Ages 4 to 13 welcome! Enjoy specialized camp activities, crafts, songs, and games. whitby.ca/GetActive Have Your Say on the Future of Parks and Recreation in Whitby Scan the QR code to complete an online survey and have your say on how the Town gets active. Hard copies of the survey are also available at all Town recreation and library facilities. We're creating a plan to guide the future of parks and recreation in our community - and we want to hear from you! connectwhitby.ca/ParksAndRecreation A provincial plan to get more housing built would have significant and negative impacts on the Town of Whitby. Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy issued a statement on Friday, Nov. 25 noting, "At a special council meeting held yesterday (Nov. 24), our council unanimously endorsed Staff Report PDP 65-22 as our position on the Province of Ontario's proposed Bill 23. We join our municipal counterparts in voicing significant concerns about the bill and the complete lack of consultation as to the impacts to towns and cities across the province." The government is proposing Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, legislation that aims to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031, and opens up 7,400 acres of the Greenbelt for development. The government said it would add 9,400 acres to the Greenbelt to make up for the loss of the 7,400 acres. Roy added, "In its current form, Bill 23 will have lasting, unintended, and significant consequences for Whitby and our residents. This bill shifts the cost of growth directly to taxpayers by reducing the development charges that are currently paid by developers to help fund important growth-related infrastructure like new parks, roads, and recreational facilities." The bill would result in "both increases in property taxes and a reduction in the level of services that our growing community has come to expect here in Whitby. This is unacceptable," Roy said. The staff report noted the bill would significantly reduce municipal collections from developers to pay for and deliver infrastructure to support population growth (such as development charges for road improvements, stormwater infrastructure, parks, recreational facilities, libraries, etc.). The report added, "the town supports the principle that growth should pay for growth. With the proposed reduction in municipal revenues from development charges (DCs), community benefit charges and cash-in-lieu of parkland dedication fees collected from developers, a larger burden of the growth-related infrastructure costs will shift to property taxes/existing residents and businesses." The report noted the bill, as it's currently laid out, would have a significant financial impact for the town. "Over the past five years, the town has collected $171 million in development charges to pay for growth-related infrastructure. The proposed mandatory five-year phase-in of DC fees included in Bill 23 would have reduced the town's DC collections by $18.8 million over the same five-year period. In infrastructure terms, this would have meant $9.9 million less DC spending for roads infrastructure and $6.2 million less in parks and recreation infrastructure," it said. Without DCs, capital projects such as road improvements, new parks, trails and multi-use paths would have to be delayed, deferred or funded by existing taxpayers. Roy is calling on the government "to revisit this bill and its impacts on all municipalities, and current and future taxpayers. The unintended consequences will result in home ownership becoming more unaffordable for Ontarians, not less, as a result of these proposed changes." On Nov. 4, the government announced a 30-day consultation period on the proposed legislation. Since then, a series of protests have been staged in Durham region and around the GTA over the government's plan. WHITBY OPPOSED TO BILL TO OPEN UP THE GREENBELT Elizabeth Roy, mayor of the Town of Whitby. Elizabeth Roy photo NEWS