By Cecilia Nasmith
Any help from Federal and provincial levels to help Northumberland County address the housing crisis is always welcome – but when all is said and done, local taxpayers foot most of that cost.
Housing Services Manager Rebecca Carman made several presentations at June's meeting of county council's Social Services Committee that made that point clear and added many layers of detail – such as the fact that the county's wait list for affordable housing has grown by more than 300% since 2010 and now finds 1,100 families waiting 10 years or more. When she first took the job seven years ago, Carman recalled, the wait list contained 400 households and was expected to take four years.
She could report on solid accomplishments, such as the on-going development of Elgin Park in Cobourg and the purchase of a Colborne property that increased the Northumberland County Housing Corporation portfolio by 22 units, as well as the expansion of the county's rent-supplement program.
Since 2001, when the province downloaded the responsibility, this kind of work has fallen into the hands of 47 service managers across Ontario to address the need through such means as innovative development efforts and incentives – mostly paid for by municipal taxpayers.
The county's 2023 housing budget of $33-million comes mostly out of local pockets.
In terms of capital costs, 55% of it comes from the tax levy, with the Federal government contributing 37% and the province kicking in 5%.
In the operating budget, 73% of it comes from the tax levy, with the Federal government contributing 15% and the province kicking in 5%.
Their ideal would be equal one-third shares for municipal, Federal and provincial partners, Carman said, sharing other recommendations in the report prepared by the Municipal Support of Rental Development Technical Table that has been formed by Ontario's service managers – A Home For Everyone: How We Get There Together.
Other recommendations include on-going funding for operational purposes.
“When we are pushing to create affordable housing, we cannot just build things – we have to make these things operate,” she explained.
Equitable access to all funding sources for smaller municipalities like Northumberland is a recognized need, as is access to provincially owned surplus land.
Meanwhile, she pointed out, the fact that a disproportionate share of the costs are being borne by county taxpayers is not generally known. And this includes the costs of addressing homelessness, the subject of a presentation by consultant Cassandra Vink on the state of the county's homelessness support system.
Its components include not only emergency shelter, but homelessness-prevention services, street outreach, adaptive case management and access to affordable housing.
One big step is what she referred to as the By-Name list, individuals at risk who consented to be dealt with by name. From this list, 137 people experienced some risk of homelessness last year. Some of these individuals require intensive supportive housing.
One piece of good news Vink had is the sense among all working in this area that collaboration has increased over time.
“County funding commitments demonstrate a willingness to be a strong partner in this effort,” she said.
Her recommendations included staff increases, such as a full-time dedicated staff person to support the diversion of singles and part-time help dedicated to preventing youth homelessness and rural homelessness.
And Transition House no longer provides enough support in this area, she added, citing bunk beds and other accessibility barriers as well as lack of space for programming in addition to the need for more bed capacity.
Another agenda item having to do with housing was the Eastern Ontario Warden's Caucus call for a motion of support for its 7 In 7 Regional Housing Plan, a multi-party plan to create 7,000 rental units across the Eastern Ontario region in seven years – though committee delegate Brian Ostrander warned Northumberland must be vigilant to get its fair share of those units.
“I just want to keep it top-of-mind, given we are the westernmost in the Eastern area, that the pressures out of the GTA will be significant on our community,” Ostrander said.
Chief Administrative Officer Jennifer Moore said details are still being worked out, and that the availability of land will be a big driver in allocating the units. The county is gathering data on municipal lands already declared surplus and those that have not been declared surplus but present good potential for housing.
