Additional $6.6M for homelessness initiatives recommended in Region budget proposal
Region of Waterloo staff are recommending an additional $6.6 million be dedicated to homelessness initiatives in next year’s budget.
Staff recommend it be paid through the property tax levy. The money would be used for the Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, by helping with supplementing rent, rental assistance, Indigenous focused housing and stabilizing the economics of the sector.
The Region already has $60.9 million earmarked for homelessness initiatives in next year’s budget. This would be an additional $6,685,000.
The item was expected to be discussed during a Budget Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday, but the session ran out of time and will continue Thursday morning.
Currently the proposed budget includes several options.
One is only raising property taxes by eight per cent but giving up the effectiveness of some services.
A second option is a base budget with no service expansions, which would cost the average homeowner $2,774 a year in property taxes, a $230 increase from last year.
The proposed budget with expansions, which would include the extra $6.6 million for homelessness initiatives, would cost the average homeowner $2,821 in property taxes, a $276 increase from last year.
The recommendation comes after a new point-in-time report found 2,371 people are experiencing homelessness in the Region. That’s more than double the number reported in 2021 and a 28 per cent year-over-year growth since 2020.
Those working on the ground are not surprised with the new number.
“We’ve been seeing those numbers for the last three years. We see it every day at St. Johns kitchen, numbers of people that don’t have a place to go,” Joe Mancini, Director of The Working Centre said.
Mancini wouldn't say if he thinks raising taxes is the best approach but says additional housing of all types is needed in the community,
“We have to find a way to make facilities and housing available to people, otherwise the 2,800 individuals in our community don’t have a place to go. We have to find new ways of doing that. But it’s also a provincial responsibility and a federal responsibility - all need to step up,” Mancini said.
The Budget Planning Committee is expected to discuss the recommendation when it continues the meeting on Thursday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
War monitor says Assad has fled Syria after rebels enter capital
The head of a Syrian opposition war monitor said early Sunday that Syria’s President Bashar Assad left the country for an undisclosed location.
Canada Post strike: Union 'extremely disappointed' in latest offer, negotiator says
A negotiator for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) says the latest offer from Canada Post to end the ongoing strike shows the carrier is moving in the "opposite direction."
Search for UnitedHealthcare CEO's killer yields evidence, but few answers
As the search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer goes on, investigators are reckoning with a tantalizing dichotomy: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an enigma.
Digging themselves out: With Santa Claus parade cancelled, Londoners make best of snowy situation
Londoners continue to dig themselves out from this week’s massive snowstorm.
Trump is welcomed by Macron to Paris with presidential pomp and joined by Zelenskyy for their talks
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Donald Trump to Paris with a full dose of presidential pomp for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
Groups launch legal challenge against Alberta's new gender-affirming treatment law
A pair of LGBTQ2S+ advocate organizations say they've followed through with their plan to challenge Alberta's three transgender bills in court, starting with one that bars doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for those under 16.
Canada's air force took video of object shot down over Yukon, updated image released
The Canadian military has released more details and an updated image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023.
U.S. announces nearly US$1 billion more in longer-term weapons support for Ukraine
The United States will provide nearly US$1 billion more in longer-term weapons support to Ukraine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday.
New plan made to refloat cargo ship stuck in St. Lawrence River for two weeks
Officials say they have come up with a new plan to refloat a large cargo ship that ran aground in the St. Lawrence River two weeks ago after previous efforts to move the vessel were unsuccessful.