Over the course of a marathon public meeting at Peterborough City Hall on Tuesday night (November 12), city councillors heard from 33 registered delegations providing feedback on the city’s draft 2025 budget.
Most of the delegations were impassioned pleas from arts and social services organizations asking councillors to reject a proposed 25 per cent across-the-board cut in city funding to the organizations, which could threaten the financial viability of as many 75 organizations while only saving $286,000 — less than one per cent of one per cent of the city’s $411 million operating budget.
Tuesday night’s three-and-a-half hour public meeting of city council’s general committee followed a meeting earlier in the afternoon where councillors received presentations on the 2025 budgets of the police, paramedics, and the Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), and received reports on the 2025 budgets for Peterborough Public Health, Fairhaven Long-Term Care Home, Otonabee Region Conservation Authority, and Peterborough Humane Society.
At that meeting, Peterborough police chief Stuart Betts argued for an 8.8 per cent increase to the police’s 2025 budget, instead of the three per cent increase proposed in the 2025 draft budget, insisting the police could not meet community safety and policing requirements with only a three per cent increase. The requested 8.8 per cent increase, if approved, would increase the proposed 7.8 property tax rate in the city’s 2025 draft budget to 8.75 per cent.
DBIA executive director Nour Mazloum and board chair Sacha Lai-Svirk presented on the accomplishments of the organization, as well as its plans for 2025 to increase revenue and decrease expenditures and its long-term version. They argued against the proposal in the 2025 draft budget for the city to eliminate $150,000 in funding to the DBIA.
That funding was the result of a 2017 settlement between the DBIA and the city, after the DBIA agreed to drop its appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board of the city’s decision to allow a casino at 1400 Crawford Drive instead of in the downtown core. Under the settlement, the city agreed to pay the DBIA $150,000 annually for 20 years — funding that the DBIA has been using for events, promotion, and security.
The police service’s request for an 8.8 per cent budget increase and the cut in DBIA funding were both referenced by some of the registered delegations during Tuesday night’s public meeting. Chaired by councillor Dave Haacke, the public meeting began an hour later than scheduled and continued until 10:30 p.m., after all 33 delegations were heard.
Of the 33 delegations that addressed council during Tuesday night’s public meeting, each speaking for five minutes, 17 were community organizations that would be affected by the 25 per cent cuts or other possible reductions proposed in the budget:
- Joy Simmons, Kawartha Youth Orchestra
- Sue Ditta, Electric City Culture Council
- Chad Hogan and Joe Grant, Market Hall
- Leslie Menagh, Artspace
- Mark Wallace, New Stages Theatre
- Debbie Keating, Art Gallery of Peterborough
- Ken Doherty, Showplace Performance Centre
- Scott Lale, Showplace Performance Centre
- Alan Wilson, Brock Mission
- Christie Goodwin and Michael Newnham, Peterborough Symphony Orchestra
- David Wesley, Peterborough Historical Society (Hutchison House)
- Rob Davis, Peterborough Folk Festival
- Bill Kimball, Electric City Culture Council (also Public Energy Performing Arts)
- Sue Sauve and Raymond Dart, Peterborough GreenUP
- Diane Therrien-Hale on behalf of Anna Eidt, Peterborough Children’s Chorus
- Annie Hedden, Housing Resource Centre, Community Counselling Resource Centre
- Nico Koyanagi, OPIRG
- Rhea Shahe, Community Race Relations Committee
- Patricia Wilson, Community Race Relations Committee
Business owners Lisa Couture of Couture Candy and Jack Henry of OmniWorks Design also made delegations objecting to the proposed cuts, as did several citizens including PRHC emergency room physician Dr. Thomas Miller, Deborah Berrill, artist Alexandra Box McCoy, Joanne Bazak-Brokking, Margie Sumadh, Roy Brady, and more.
“These cuts will be more damaging to the city’s economic future than any dollars that they save,” said Mark Wallace, artistic director of New Stages Theatre, which has received a community investment grant from the city. “Last year, the $9,900 granted to New Stages led to $85,000 returning directly to the pockets of the community, to its businesses and residents.”
“That doesn’t even count the tourism and economic impact of the over 2,000 people who are coming to our shows, who are coming downtown. The people who are shopping for Christmas presents or dining at restaurants. Some of them come multiple times a year.”
“It doesn’t count the impact on community togetherness and belonging. It doesn’t count the impact on increased foot traffic downtown that increases safety. It’s just the economic impact, and that’s just one organization — that’s New Stages, one of 75.”
Wallace also pointed out the city’s own strategic plan enthusiastically promotes the city’s arts and culture community in its first few pages.
“We are a big part of the good news story the city is using to sell what makes us a great place worth living in and investing in,” Wallace said.
The discrepancy between the city’s promotion of arts and culture and the proposed 25 per cent cut to arts organizations was highlighted in an anecdote shared by Christie Goodwin, general manager of the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO), during her comments to council.
“Two weeks ago, just ahead of the PSO’s opening concert, I was contacted by the City of Peterborough staff, asking permission to have a photographer attend our concert,” Goodwin recalled. “The stated purpose of the documentation was to update the city’s database, making photos available for use on city websites, social media, and promotional materials.”
“I very excitedly shared this new with the orchestra, and had all 60 musicians on stage — and my musical director (Michael Newnham) — complete the waiver forms, thinking this was a harbinger of good news. Surely the city was going to increase our funding if they were gathering assets to use the PSO as a selling feature. Two days later, this draft budget came down.”
The comments from Wallace and Goodwin reflected some common themes that emerged from all the delegations that presented to council, some of which are highlighted below.
- A blanket 25 per cent cut to all arts and social services organizations does not consider the impact on individual organizations, some of which may be unable to survive such a cut. The ability of organizations to obtain grants from other funders often depends on the demonstrated level of municipal funding support they receive.
- A ripple effect may compound the impact of the cuts even further. For example, a 25 per cent reduction in city funding to Market Hall Performing Arts Centre and Showplace Performance Centre may force both not-for-profit venues to increase their rental fees, making the venues too expensive for community groups.
- The economic benefit the city receives from its investments to the arts far outweighs the cost of that investment, in part because arts-related events draw both locals and visitors who spend money at local businesses (retail, restaurants, hotels and motels), particularly in the downtown area where many of the events take place. Like the ripple effect that may compound the impact of the cuts on other community groups, the cuts may also have a similar effect on local businesses.
- The city’s investment in both the arts and social services organization is an investment in the well-being of Peterborough citizens.
- A vibrant arts community encourage people to move to Peterborough, including physicians and other healthcare professionals.
- An increase in the police budget to $36.1 million (or to $44 million if council approves the police service’s request for an 8.8 per cent increase) should not come at the expense of social services organizations, as police cannot replace these services, many of which provide the social supports that help prevent crime.
- There is a contradiction between the city’s willingness to spend $4.4 million to redevelop Bonnerworth Park, which is opposed by many residents mainly due to the inclusion of 14 pickleball courts and the loss of greenspace, while cutting grants to arts and social services organizations to save $286,000.
For the most part, there were few questions from councillors to the delegations that presented. Councillor Kevin Duguay, who posed the most questions, commonly asked organizations whether they serve people from Peterborough County and, if they do, whether they receive any funding from the county — presumably implying that some organizations should be seeking funding from the county.
City council meeting as general committee will review, discuss, and debate the draft 2025 budget from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 18 and 19. No public delegations will be allowed at these meetings. The mayor is expected to present the draft budget to city council on December 9, when registered delegations will have another opportunity to present to council.
