Barrie’s share of the costs for services provided by the County of Simcoe will rise again this year, city councillors heard Wednesday night during a presentation of the county’s 2025 operating and capital budgets.
“The county continuously works to build up our communities in a fiscally responsible and prudent way,” Trevor Wilcox, the county’s general manager of corporate performance, told BarrieToday, an affiliate of InnisfilToday, before the meeting. “As such, we take these budgets very seriously and consider ways to find responsible efficiencies where possible.”
Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall said a system where the County of Simcoe provides services to the city is a challenge.
“Our job is to try to figure out how to pay for the costs that are rightfully the City of Barrie’s and not pay for the costs that aren’t,” he said.
Wilcox said that, as per the previously negotiated agreement between the City of Barrie and the County of Simcoe, Barrie’s shared costs this year include $26,875,000 in total operating costs and $12,381,000 in total adjusted capital costs.
There is a projected 2.9 per cent increase — or $767,000 — for the total 2025 operating budget.
Barrie’s share of all County of Simcoe services provided, including the city’s transfer to the county’s capital reserve, is $2.32 million or 7.6 per cent more than last year, said Craig Gillespie, Barrie’s senior manager of corporate finance and investments.
“In 2025, we will be breaking ground on our largest social housing build to date at Rose Street in Barrie,” Wilcox said, “and will continue building up critical services and supports in the community to help our most vulnerable citizens through our 10-point homelessness prevention plan.
“We will also be opening up our newest supportive rapid rehousing location on Blake Street in Barrie to quickly find permanent homes for seniors who are living unhoused.”
The county provides Barrie with services that include paramedics, homelessness prevention, long-term care beds, non-profit social housing, Ontario Works, children’s services, Simcoe County Housing Corporation, community services and social housing.
The city pays its share for these services, along with a portion of capital expenditures, such as building construction (20 Rose St., in Barrie, for example).
“This is going to be the largest build in the county’s community housing development history — 221 units, mixed-income community with a community hub space, a co-located set of services and offices,” said Mina Fayez-Bahgat, the county’s general manager of social and community services, said of the Rose Street project, on the former Barrie OPP detachment site.
The Rose Street project has an estimated budget of $217 million.
Last year, city council commissioned Deloitte LLP to do a value-for-money service audit report to determine if the city is receiving value for the money it pays the county to provide services. The audit report cost the city $45,000.
One of its key conclusions is that the county is “compliant with the municipal services management agreement between the City (of Barrie) and the County (of Simcoe) in terms of actual costs allocated for shared services during the past three years (2021, 2022 and 2023).”
In other words, Deloitte generally found that the County of Simcoe provides the city with value for the services it provides.
“The audit came back and said, look, 95 per cent of the things that are governed by the county you’re (Barrie is) receiving at level or higher than level, I guess, return on investment, for lack of a better description,” said Nuttall.
There were recommendations that came from the audit report — one being that Barrie’s payback on capital projects go to the lifespan of the building, instead of 10 years.
The city’s share of county operating costs in 2022 was $21.9 million, rising to $24.3 million in 2023.
Barrie’s operating costs last year were budgeted at $26.1 million, but are now forecast at $28 million.
Wilcox explained the difference, and it lends some insight into the pressures faced by the county in providing services.
He said there is a forecast increase in 2024 operating costs of $1.9 million for paramedics ($1 million), Simcoe County Housing Corporation ($405,000), non-profit housing ($309,000) and long-term care homes ($241,000).
“Paramedic costs are a result of higher-than-anticipated overtime shifts to maintain coverage,” Wilcox said. “Staff continue to work towards fulfilling the paramedic services master staffing plan, which has been developed to best meet current schedule requirements with an optimal mix of full-time and part-time medics.”
Simcoe County Housing Corporation has different challenges.
“Inflationary pressures continued to impact the facility budget and are estimated around eight to 10 per cent, which is significantly higher than the county-wide planned two per cent,” Wilcox told BarrieToday. “This contributes to an increase across all capital and operating projects.
“In addition to inflation, there are facility-related costs that have impacted the forecast,” he added. “In 2024, the number of tenant move-outs has increased significantly compared to 2023, at a value of $1.6 million. These move-outs add to the facility repairs and maintenance costs.”
Wilcox said the non-profit housing forecast is higher due to the timing of carryover projects, and these costs include capital loans to providers.
“Long-term care homes costs are higher than budget due to the use of agency staff to fill shifts where County of Simcoe employees are not available to maintain appropriate staffing levels,” he said. “Across the province, the health-care industry has been significantly impacted by the shortage of staff and are back-filling these vacancies with agency staff.”
The County of Simcoe is what Barrie calls a service partner, like the Barrie Police Service and the Barrie Public Library.
The county budget is part of the city’s 2025 operating and capital budget, which sets annual service levels and property taxes.
Barrie’s general committee is scheduled to debate the city budget Jan. 22, then city council will consider final approval at its Jan. 29 meeting.
