The Corporation of the Town of Milton

Transcription

1 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report To: From: Council Glen Cowan, Director, Finance Date: July 24, 2017 Report : Subject: Recommendation: CORS Budget Call Report THAT the 2018 Capital and Operating Budgets and Forecasts be prepared in alignment with the Town s strategic plans and long-term studies (example: Destiny Milton 3, Official Plan, Asset Management Plan, Fiscal Impact Study, etc.) and include a range of tax impacts for the 2018 Operating Budget between: 4.0% increase to the Town portion of the total tax levy, ($9.74 per $100,000 of assessment value) and 7.5% increase to the Town portion of the total tax levy ($18.26 per $100,000 of assessment value). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The budget process provides a venue within which decisions as to the appropriate balance between affordability, service levels and financial sustainability can be made. To inform the process, a public survey was undertaken. Results included: o that the majority of residents value the services provided by the Town and preferred maintaining or increasing the funding for the services surveyed. o More broadly (i.e. none service-specific), residents were divided between how to manage taxation versus individual service levels as well as infrastructure funding strategies. Significant levels of growth are forecasted for 2018, 2019 and beyond, and as a result the capital program for these years is anticipated to be significant (the 2018 forecast approved through the 2017 budget process exceeded $90 million). Three new facilities are expected to open in 2019 (Sherwood Community Centre, Sherwood Branch Library, and Fire Station #5), and therefore a significant operating cost impact will occur in 2018 through The Town s existing asset management plans have identified an infrastructure deficit, with a higher amount anticipated with the expansion of the plan to additional services in Updated analysis of the Town s reserve and annual funding for infrastructure renewal also suggest that significant increases to capital contributions are required in order to maintain the existing asset base in the future. The resources, including human capital, required to support the existing service levels in a growing community continue to create a pressure on both the

2 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 2 of 17 organization and the Town s existing revenue sources. Report CORS is being presented concurrent with the 2018 Budget Call Report to further outline this challenge. The net tax levy forecast for the years 2018 and 2019 that was presented through the 2017 budget process has been updated to reflect the pressures above, as well as other identified changes (such as inflationary and other growth related impacts). This revised forecast projects cost pressures amounting to tax increases of 8.54% and 9.61% in 2018 and 2019, respectively, based on existing service levels. A comparison to the projections made in the Town s most recent long-term fiscal impact study (CORS ) shows that tax levy revenues have lagged the forecasts initially made. The differential of over $26 million annually can be attributed in large part to the annual contributions to support future infrastructure renewal. Milton s local municipal tax rate remains the lowest in relation to the comparator group presented, ranging between 20% and 107% below the other municipalities. Out of 23 other municipalities within the GTA, Milton s overall tax burden (including lower tier, upper tier, education and water rates) is the lowest at 3.2% of household income and is the second lowest when compared to the other 102 Ontario municipalities included in BMA Management Consulting Ltd. s annual study. Budget packages are scheduled to be distributed by vember 20, 2017 in order to prepare for the Committee of the Whole dates scheduled for December 4 th & 5 th, The recommended guidance range of 4.0% to 7.5% is higher than those recommended in prior years. It reflects several considerations such as the significant cost of three new facilities, incremental progress towards reducing the infrastructure deficit and moving towards financial sustainability, and inflationary and growth pressures. As the entire range remains below the projected operating cost pressure for 2018, Town staff will be tasked with identifying efficiency opportunities and service-level adjustment prior to bringing forward options for Council to consider in balancing affordability with financial sustainability. REPORT Background Section 290 (1) of the Municipal Act require municipalities to prepare and adopt an annual budget. In accordance with Town s Corporate Policy 23 budget guidelines are set by Council. Through the Budget Call report staff recommend the guidelines to be followed when preparing the 2018 capital and operating budgets and forecasts. One of the goals in the Town s strategic plan, Destiny Milton 3 (DM3), is Financial Sustainability which means that the Town will manage its finances to provide programs and services to meet the current needs of the community without impacting the financial burden of future generations to meet their own needs. As further outlined in DM3, the

3 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 3 of 17 Town s financial management plans will inform short and long-term operational and capital expenditures, and priorities related to infrastructure replacement and renewal. These are the underlying principals used by staff in preparing the annual budget. The budget process includes the Town undertaking a public input survey to solicit feedback from residents and business owners. Using that feedback, and direction from Council, the operating and capital budgets and forecasts are developed, analyzed and reviewed. The budget is then presented to Committee of the Whole for consideration and deliberation. Following that, recommendations are presented to Council for final approval. The outcome of the budget determines the programs and services provided, the infrastructure to be constructed or rehabilitated, and the revenue sources (including taxation) required for the budget year. Staff will prepare the 2018 budgets based on the guidelines from Council. The 2018/19 forecasts as presented through this report are based on data and information currently available, but as the detailed budget is developed it will continue to be refined to include additional information identified through such processes as the Second Quarter Variances review. As in previous years, the budget document will include a list of options that Council may consider to reduce the tax impact. Discussion The budget process provides a venue within which decisions as to the appropriate balance between affordability, service levels and financial sustainability can be made. Milton has enjoyed steady population growth since 2001 and has consistently ranked as one of Canada s fastest growing communities. With an existing population of approximately 111,000 residents at the end of 2016 that is expected to double over the next 15 years, the Town is consistently faced with a number of financial challenges and opportunities. These were outlined in ES and the related Building a Complete Community document that outlined the Town s First Principles of Growth. Within this context, the budget serves as a financial plan that provides guidelines and direction to staff for the allocation of resources and the provision of services and infrastructure. Public Input As previously outlined in CORS , the 2018 budget process includes engaging Town residents and business owners to provide input on levels of service, property tax changes and management of the infrastructure deficit. In an effort to ensure continuous improvement, Town staff worked with Nanos Research, a leading research and strategy organization, to conduct this year s budget survey. Nanos assisted with the development of the survey questions, facilitated an online survey and conducted a statistically valid, random telephone survey of 402 Milton residents, enabling greater reliability of the survey results as compared to previous years. Full public opportunity to provide input into the budget was accomplished as the identical survey was provided and published on the Town s website. The online survey

4 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 4 of 17 was completed by 617 survey respondents. Highlights of the surveys are summarized below, with full detail provided in Schedule C. With respect to value, 66% of respondents to the telephone survey (and 42% of the online survey) identified receiving good to very good value in the services provided. Figure 1 Value Received for Tax Dollar Responses 24% 6% 2% 3% 15% 6% 3% 5% 12% 37% 37% Online Telephone 51% Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor Unsure 66% of respondents to the telephone survey and 42% of the online survey identified receiving good to very good value for their tax dollars. When asked about balancing service levels with taxation, responses were spread across the range of options available as follows: Figure 2 - Balancing Service Levels With Taxation Responses 13% 14% 10% 18% 36% 27% Increase taxes and spend to enhance services Increase taxes to maintain services at current levels Cut services to maintain current tax level Cut services and reduce taxes 24% 19% 13% Online Telephone 26% Unsure Residents were divided over the balance between taxation and service delivery. Approximately half of the responses favoured increasing taxes to enhance or maintain services while the other half were not sure or favoured cutting services to maintain or reduce the tax level.

5 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 5 of 17 Responses were similarly divided with respect to the utilization of a dedicated 1% infrastructure levy to fund the rehabilitation of Town assets. With respect to individual services, when asked if the amount invested should be increased, maintained or decreased, the majority of survey respondents indicated maintained or increased in every category. Figure 3 Feedback on Individual Services The majority of survey respondents preferred service levels to be enhanced or maintained. As noted in CORS , services which had fairly consistent results in prior years surveys were excluded this year, with the intention to alternate them with the services above on an annual basis. As a reference, prior year results for all services is provided as a part of Schedule E. The budget survey included an open ended question to provide participants with the opportunity to offer any additional comments for consideration through the 2018 budget. Detailed comments received from this question are included in Schedule C. Growth Forecast An important component of preparing the budget is estimating the rate of growth expected in the community as it has an impact on both revenues and expenses in the capital and operating budgets. The anticipated growth in residential units and

6 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 6 of 17 industrial/commercial/institutional (ICI) square footage over the forecast period is used to calculate the incremental tax revenues from assessment growth and the provision of services to an expanding community, as well as to appropriately identify the requirements, timing and funding of new construction, including roadways, parkland and facilities. However, as Council is aware, the taxes raised from residential units do not cover the costs of services provided and therefore balanced growth between residential and non-residential is critical to financial stability. Over recent years, residential growth has outpaced non-residential with the mix of assessment changing from 71.8% residential in 2001 to 81.7% residential in Through the 2015 Development Charges Background Study, a revised growth forecast was prepared and is updated semi-annually to reflect actual development and revised forecasts. The 2018 capital and operating budgets will be adjusted to reflect the revised growth projections through adjustments to the timing of projects and extension of services. The Region of Halton s current allocation program for water and waste water servicing will allow for the completion of development within the Bristol and Sherwood survey secondary plan areas as well as a significant portion of the Boyne survey. A subsequent allocation program is anticipated to be released in 2018 which would provide sufficient units to complete the build out of the Boyne survey. Over the next several years residential building activity is anticipated to be higher than any previous activity experienced by the Town with an expected 3,304 in 2018 as illustrated in the following graph. Figure 4 Town of Milton Residential Growth

7 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 7 of 17 Capital Budget and Forecast In accordance with Corporate Policy. 22, a 10 year capital budget and forecast designed to provide for the requirements of growth as well as maintaining existing infrastructure will be prepared. As in prior years, the starting point for preparing the forecast will be the forecast presented and approved in principle through the 2017 capital and operating budget process. The previous forecast estimated the 2018 capital program would exceed $90 million. Work to review and update the proposed program to align with revised construction timelines and corporate priorities has already begun. Although there may be the opportunity to refine the timing of some projects, the 2018 capital budget is still anticipated to be large as investment continues to service the Sherwood and Boyne Secondary Plan areas (example: Fire Station #5) and existing assets are rehabilitated. Pre-Approved Multiyear Projects Three (3) large, multi-year construction projects were approved through the 2017 capital budget for the Sherwood Community Centre, Sherwood Branch Library and the reconstruction of Fire Station #1. The design for these facilities is well underway with construction of the Sherwood Community Centre and Branch Library expected to commence in the fall of 2017 and the Fire Station 1 Renovation shortly after in early It is currently anticipated the construction of these facilities will be completed in the spring of The budgets for these projects were pre-approved and phased over multiple years as presented in the following table: Figure 5 - Pre-Approved Multiyear Projects Summary Description 2016/ ($ Millions) Total Project Sherwood Community Centre $29.2 $14.2 $43.4 Library Branch # Fire Station #1 Renovations Total $36.6 $17.9 $54.5 These budgets may require revisions to incorporate updated costing information obtained through the detailed design processes as well as changes in construction timing. As these projects have been pre-approved and will be under construction, they are of highest priority for continued funding through the 2018 capital budget. As presented through the annual budgets when these multi-year projects were approved, the completion of the Community Centre & Library facilities will have a significant impact on the operating budget as the assets become operational. Updated operating figures for these facilities have been included in the 2018 operating forecast.

8 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 8 of 17 Operating Impacts from Capital Similar to the multi-year projects, many of the projects within the capital program will have a long-term impact on the operating budget and corresponding tax levy as the assets become operational. Capital investment in local subdivision infrastructure assumed by the Town (example local roads and storm water assets built by developers) also results in ongoing incremental costs. Capital budgets have identified the operational impacts of the capital program that result from new or expanded services including the ongoing maintenance of new Town constructed roads and parks as well as the impacts of expanded transit services, information technology investments and new facilities. A provision for financing future capital investment to maintain or replace the assets is also required. As such, capital financing needs for 2018 include a contribution to reserves to fund the future rehabilitation and/or replacement of the new assets over the long-term. Infrastructure Funding Deficit As of the end of 2016, the replacement value of the Town s assets, excluding land, exceeds $1.4 billion. An infrastructure deficit has been identified through the Town s asset management plans for roads, facilities and transit as presented through CORS and CORS The deficit is anticipated to increase with the addition of the Town s parks, trails and street lighting assets which are currently under review and will be consolidated into a Comprehensive Asset Management Plan in Inadequate funding of non-growth capital reserves will limit the Town s ability to maintain current service levels into the future as sufficient funding will not be available to invest in keeping the assets in a state of good repair. One available method of reviewing the degree to which the Town is setting aside funds for future rehabilitation is to compare the non-growth capital reserve balances to the accumulated amortization on the Town s assets. The accumulated amortization on the Town s assets exceeds the current non-growth related capital reserve and reserve fund balances by nearly $342 million based on historical cost, and $590 million when those costs are translated into 2016 dollars. Although other financing tools (example debt) will be available as a part of the funding strategy, the differences noted above are well in excess of the current Provincially mandated and Council established debt capacity limits. The figures noted above are depicted on the following graph, and suggest that additional contributions to capital reserve are required for the Town s existing assets based on the service levels currently provided. Further analysis relating to the infrastructure investment needs and financing plan will be available through the 2017 asset management plan which will be presented before

9 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 9 of 17 the proposed 2018 budget. The Town will also continue to develop analysis based on forward-looking, long-term, investment needs, to further validate the required funding levels and financing strategy. Figure 6 Measure of Infrastructure Renewal Funding Status $700 $ $500 Millions $400 $300 $ $100 $0 Accumulated Amortization in Historical Cost 33 Accumulated Amortization in $2016 (note 1) n-growth Capital Reserve & Reserve Fund Balances (at 2016 Year End) (note 2) te 1: $2016 cost based on inflating each assets historic cost using MFOA deflator tables. te 2: n-growth includes Town funded (eg: tax based) and externally funded (eg: gas tax, OLG) Human Resources The Strategic Workforce Plan, CORS , as presented to Council on December 14, 2015, discussed the need to increase staffing levels to accommodate the rapid growth that the Town continues to experience. Annually, staff complete forecasting exercises to determine the additional positions that would be required to continue to provide service delivery at existing levels and reduce existing pressures across the organization. This is done in line with DM3 which requires, as an action item under the goal of Organizational Effectiveness, that the Town Adopt a workforce planning and composition model that ensures the optimal resources and composition needed to deliver programs and services. Concurrent with this report, CORS is being presented with further detail with respect to the Town s resource pressures. Incorporated into the 2018/19 forecasts presented herein is a provision for the addition of important growth related staffing positions necessary in order to help maintain levels of service at or near current levels. Although this provision will not be sufficient to address the entirety of pressures outlined in CORS , it will allow for some priority needs to move forward.

10 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 10 of 17 Other Revenue Sources To mitigate the impact of property tax increases on the general taxpayer the Town of Milton utilizes other funding sources as much as possible. Some of the Town s revenue sources are either frozen or stagnant and do not increase with inflation and growth. One of the more flexible revenue sources is that of user fees where fees are charged to users of the many Town services to cover part or all of the costs of providing these services in accordance with various legislation. User fees shift the financial burden to those who directly benefit from the services provided. User fees represent nearly 22% of the revenues within the operating budget. The Town continues to be proactive in achieving high levels of cost recovery through the user fees and work is underway to update the fees for 2018 with a report to Council anticipated in August In the interim, the rates and fees within the operating forecast were indexed using the MPI for expenditures, 2.16%. Operating Budget and Forecast The forecast for 2018 and 2019, prepared and presented in conjunction with the 2017 operating budget has been updated to reflect various changes in assumptions using the most current information available. Primary cost drivers within the operating budget continue to be inflationary increases to maintain existing levels of service, the cost of extending those services to new growth areas, and capital financing to move towards financial sustainability. With respect to servicing growth, three new facilities opening in 2019 will have a significant impact on costs. A portion of the operating impacts of Sherwood Community Centre and Branch Library have been identified in 2018 as much of the staffing will be required in the fourth quarter of 2018 to ensure the facility will be operational at the scheduled opening in the spring of Additional crews have also been added to the forecast in each year to 2020 to continue to address the staffing requirements for Fire Station #5, scheduled to open in The current forecast predicts a tax rate increase of 8.54% in 2018 and 9.61% in 2019 in order to maintain service levels and improve financial sustainability. The following table summarizes the main drivers impacting the proposed tax levy:

11 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 11 of 17 Figure & 2019 Operating Budget Forecast Component % $ (000's) % $ (000's) Prior Year Tax Levy $52,084 $58,465 Inflation and Base Adjustments: Inflation 2.74% $1, % $1,602 Transfer to Infrastructure Renewal Reserve 1.92% $1, % $1,000 Increase in Utilities 0.38% $ % $0 Reduction in Investment Income 0.19% $ % $0 n-recurring Items -0.35% ($182) 0.00% $0 Total Inflation and Base Adjustments Growth Related Expenditures: Sherwood Community Centre & Branch Library, Fire Station 5 - Operating Costs & Revenues Sherwood Community Centre & Branch Library, Fire Station 5 - Capital Financing Annualization of the Operating Impacts from the remainder of the Capital Budget All Other estimated growth related expenses 2018 Net Estimated Impact 2019 Net Estimated Impact 4.89% $2, % $2, % $1, % $1, % $0 1.85% $1, % $ % $ % $2, % $2,422 Total Growth Related Expenditures 7.37% $3, % $5,808 Total 12.25% $6, % $8,410 Final Tax Levy $58,465 $66,875 Estimated Assessment Growth -3.71% ($1,934) -4.77% ($2,790) Assumptions Based on Municipal Price Index (refer to Schedule B for further details). Funding to gradually reduce the infrastructure deficit outlined in this report & existing Asset Management Plans (AMPs). Strategy will be further developed through the AMP in Increase based on existing consumption & spending running higher than budget. Hydro costs were over budget by $0.4 million in Due to the continued low interest rate environment as older investments mature they cannot be reinvested at historic rates. See CORS Elimination of one time non-recurring 2017 items from 2018 budget. Sherwood Community Centre/Branch Library fulltime staff starting in latter part of 2018 and operating expenses and program revenue (aquatics, skating) starting in For more information on the Sherwood Community Centre and Library see COMS Also includes one new fire crew in each of 2018 and Capital financing for future rehabilitation & replacement of these facilities. Primarily due to two new transit buses in Boyne Secondary Area, fleet, equipment and several Information Technology software and infrastructure investments. Driven by human resource requirements to provide existing services to growth areas (see CORS ), capital financing for future rehabilitation of new assets, legislated development charge exemptions and maintenance of additional roadways and parks. Preliminary forecast assuming residential permits for 2,704 & 3,304 units in 2017 & Forecasted Net Tax Levy Increase 8.54% $4, % $5,620 Required NOTE: A number of assumptions have been made in the estimates above, all of which will be refined in more detail through the 2018 Budget process as new information becomes available. Please refer to the Assumptions, Risks and Opportunities section of this report for highlights of key variables related to this table.

12 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 12 of 17 Long Term Fiscal Impact Study The most recent Long Term Fiscal Impact Study (CORS ) was completed in 2010 and through the study a number of significant financial and service delivery implications were identified as growth occurs. Through the study, tax rate increases of approximately 6.32% annually to 2021 were identified as being necessary to finance the cost impacts of being a high growth municipality. These increases translated into an estimated required tax levy of $79 million by Since the report, tax rate increases have averaged 4.12% and the current tax levy is $52 million, over $26 million less than the estimated requirement. Figure 8 - Tax Levy Trend (2010 to 2017) 7% $90 6% $80 5% $70 $60 Tax Increase 4% 3% 2% $50 $40 $30 $20 Tax Levy (millions) 1% $10 0% Projected Tax Levy Requirement ($)* Actual Tax Levy Requirement ($) Projected Tax increase (%)* Actual Tax Increase (%) $0 te: *Projections per Long Term Fiscal Impact Study (CORS ) The majority of the differential between the projections from CORS and the actual tax levy changes can be attributed to the amount of funding transferred to capital reserve annually to fund future rehabilitation and replacement. As illustrated in the following graph, the Town s capital funding from the tax base was projected to increase from $9.5 million in 2010 to $42.4 million in However, tax supported capital funding has only marginally increased to $13.3 million in 2017.

13 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 13 of 17 Figure 9 Capital Funding from Tax Base $50 $40 (millions) $30 $20 $10 $ (note 1) 2017 Projected (note 1) Capital Funded from Tax Base 2017 Approved Budget (note 2) te 1: Per Long Term Fiscal Impact Study (CORS ). te 2: Includes transfers to reserve, to the capital fund and debt charges (tax related). As the Town s asset base is still relatively young, the shortfall in funding will impact the Town s ability to rehabilitate and replace aging assets in the future. For context, during this same period the Town s asset base, as measured by the historical cost tracked through tangible capital asset reporting, grew from $859 million in 2010 to $1.3 billion in Budget vs. Actual Variance Trend Historically, the net overall operating expenditures and revenues have been in line with the approved budget as over the previous five years, the year-end operating surplus has been within approximately 0.4% of the tax levy. Figure 10-5-Year Historical Net Budget Variance Trend ($Millions) Net Budget $35.9 $39.3 $41.9 $44.9 $48.9 Actual $35.2 $41.2 $42.0 $43.4 $48.3 Variance* $0.7 $-1.9 $-0.1 $1.5 $0.6 Variance % 2.0% -4.8% -0.1% 3.3% 1.3% te: *Positive variance represents a favourable variance and a negative variance represents an unfavourable variance.

14 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 14 of 17 Comparing Milton s Taxes to Other Local Municipalities Milton continues to have the lowest tax rate compared to the other surrounding local municipalities. The Town of Milton is 20% lower than Mississauga based on approved 2016 tax rates and 107% lower than the city of Brampton. Figure Approved Local Tax Comparison (per $100,000 of assessment) $500 $492 $400 $300 $243 $292 $324 $365 $370 $372 $200 $100 $0 Affordability Milton Mississauga Oakville te: Includes Hospital Levy where applicable. Average total cost for each municipality would also be affected by the average assessed value, which differs by municipality. BMA Management Consulting completes an annual study that compares over 100 Ontario municipalities using a wide range of various metrics. Included within the study is a measure of affordability where property taxes are calculated as a percentage of household income. The 2016 study highlights that out of 23 other municipalities within the GTA, Milton s overall tax burden (including lower tier, upper tier, education and water rates) is the lowest at 3.2% and is the second lowest when compared to the other 102 Ontario municipalities included in the study. Burlington Halton Hills Caledon Brampton

15 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 15 of 17 Figure Total Municipal Burden as a % of Household Income 5% 5.0% 4.2% 4% 3.2% 3.4% 3.6% 3.6% 3.7% 3% 2% GTA Average = 4.2% 1% 0% Milton Oakville Halton Hills Caledon Burlington Mississauga Brampton 2016 Total Municipal Burden as a % of Household Income GTA Average Source: 2016 BMA Municipal Study, Pages and 444. Timetable Over the coming months, staff across the organization will prepare detailed estimates for the capital and operating budgets and forecasts. Budget packages are scheduled to be distributed by vember 20, 2017 to allow sufficient time for the Committee to review the document prior to the budget deliberation meetings that were scheduled for December 4 th & 5 th 2017 through CORS Final Council approval of the 2018 capital and operating budgets is anticipated on December 11, A summary timetable with important budget deadlines is included as Schedule A to this report. Assumptions, Risks and Opportunities While the 2018/19 operating forecast as presented in this report reflects all data currently available, the 2018 budget will be developed using refined assumptions and information as it becomes available. Some of the areas that may be impacted by changing information are: Asset Management - The Town s cumulative infrastructure deficit is anticipated to increase with the addition of the Town s parks, trails and street lighting assets which are currently under review and will be consolidated into a Comprehensive Asset Management Plan in 2017.

16 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 16 of 17 Assessment Growth The assessment growth as outlined in this report is based on preliminary assumptions which will be further refined as data becomes available through the fall of Economic Considerations For the first time in seven years the Bank of Canada raised interest rates 25 basis points in July 2017 to 0.75%. Further rate increases are being predicted before the end of the year. Higher interest rates could positively impact the rate of return experienced on the Town s investment portfolio however will also increase the borrowing costs for debenture financed projects. Grant Funding The Town strives to take advantage of all funding available from federal and provincial agencies as well as other organizations. While new grant programs can be a source of additional sources of revenue, the Town can also be negatively impacted by changes to existing programs or eligibility criteria. Utilities The Town works to mitigate the impact of fluctuations in the pricing of its utilities through its purchasing agreements however usage can be difficult to predict as it is impacted by factors such as weather. Staff continue to monitor usage and budget based on current trends and averages. Election Although the Town maintains an Election Reserve intended to offset the cost of elections, the adequacy of the funds in the reserve will need to be evaluated against the projected costs of the upcoming election. Staffing and Compensation Staffing requirements of the Town will be prioritized through the development of the operating budget further to resource needs and pressures outlined in CORS Compensation may be impacted by the recent provincial announcement of the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017, the full time compensation plan review currently underway and the terms of collective agreements related to the Town s unionized staff. Operating Impacts associated with Capital Projects Potential operating impacts associated with capital projects will continue to be monitored and reevaluated by staff as projects progress. Financial Impact Guidance on the target tax levy is valuable as it allows staff to more efficiently prepare for Council a proposed budget package for vember that is responsive to Council s direction. Staff recommend preparing a budget with tax rate impacts between 4.0% and 7.5%. In 2017, the range approved by Council was 2.0% to 7.0%. A higher range is being recommended this year to reflect several considerations including:

17 The Corporation of the Town of Milton Report #: CORS Page 17 of 17 The town will be opening 3 new facilities in 2019 (Sherwood Community Centre, Library and Fire Station #5) which will result in significant operating cost impacts in 2018 through Increases in the contributions to support future asset rehabilitation and replacement are required in order to progress towards financial sustainability and address the existing infrastructure deficit. Inflationary pressures, as measured by the Municipal Price Index, exceed the low end of the range at 2% as they are estimated at 2.74% as shown in Schedule B. The entire recommended range up to the 7.5% upper limit remains below the 8.54% in identified pressures for 2018 based on anticipated projections. As such, this range will provide a challenge for staff in finding efficiencies (example: investment in technologies or process improvements) or service level adjustments prior to bringing forward options for Council to consider in balancing affordability with sustainability needs. As staff develop the annual budgets, detailed program and service estimates will be refined as information becomes available and assumptions adjusted to reflect changes in the information. The final financial impact will be presented to the Committee of the Whole with the 2018 capital and operating budget document along with options for Committee to consider to adjust the tax rates. Respectfully submitted, Linda Leeds, CPA, CGA Deputy CAO/CFO For questions, please contact: Jennifer Kloet, CPA, CA x2216 Attachments Schedule A Budget Timetable Schedule B Municipal Price Index Schedule C Nanos Public Input Survey Report Schedule D Survey Comments Received Through Social Media Schedule E 2017 Survey Results for Services CAO Approval William Mann, MCIP, RPP, OALA, CSLA, MCIF, RPF Chief Administrative Officer

18 CORS Budget Call Report 2018 (Schedule A) 2018 Capital and Operating Budget Timetable Date Process May Budget Survey Report to Council May 30 - Jun 19 Budget Survey open to public July 24 Budget Call Report to Council to establish guidelines Jul - Sep Departmental development of Capital and Operating Budget and Forecast Sep - Oct Strategic and Leadership Management review Oct - v Budget Book preparation v 20 Budget package to Committee of the Whole Dec 4-5 Committee of the Whole deliberation and approval of Budget Dec 11 Council approval of Budget

19 CORS Budget Call Report 2017 (Schedule B) Municipal Price Index for Budget % of 2017 tax supported Budget Price Index Weighted Source 2018 Estimate Salaries 36,751, % 2.13% 0.83% Market Adjustment, Contract Increases 37,533,782 Benefits 8,659, % 3.59% 0.33% Various (OMERS, Manulife, Green Shield, AIG, etc.) 8,970,817 Hydro 3,148, % 2.00% 0.07% Milton Hydro 3,211,485 Hydro - Streetlighting 1,013, % 2.00% 0.02% Milton Hydro 1,033,333 Water 511, % 5.20% 0.03% Region of Halton 538,054 Natural Gas 535, % 3.05% 0.02% Scotiabank Commodity Price Index 551,464 Insurance 717, % 0.00% 0.00% Estimated based on current contract 717,240 Roads 359, % 0.00% 0.00% Asphalt Cement Price Index, MTO 359,002 Fleet Costs Fuel 1,133, % 5.70% 0.07% US Energy Information Administration 1,197,985 Repairs 1,462, % 2.00% 0.03% CPI 1,491,546 Licencing 69, % 2.00% 0.00% CPI 70,949 Contribution to Capital 840, % 3.40% 0.03% Various (Stats Can Quarterly Construction Price Index, CPI) 869,170 Transfer to Reserves 11,704, % 2.47% 0.31% Various (Stats Can Quarterly Construction Price Index, CPI) 11,994,236 Purchased Goods and Services 20,770, % 2.00% 0.44% CPI 21,185,913 Financial Expenditures (e.g. debt charges, tax write-offs, etc.) 6,956, % 0.00% 0.00% 6,956,170 TOTAL EXPENSES 94,632, % 2.16% $96,681,146 User Fees and Service Charges (19,791,693) 2.16% MPI (excluding Revenue Impacts) (20,220,086) Regional Recovery and Chargebacks (5,298,376) 2.00% CPI (5,404,344) Contribution from Capital (3,993,278) 2.17% Index of n Union Salaries and Benefits (4,079,949) Investment and Interest Income (4,691,619) 0.00% (4,691,619) Taxation and Payments in Lieu (3,143,373) 0.00% (3,143,373) Grants, Other Recoveries and Donations (1,729,545) 0.00% (1,729,545) Contributions from Reserves and Misc. Revenues (3,896,729) 0.00% (3,896,729) TOTAL REVENUES (42,544,613) ($43,165,645) Tax Levy 52,088,196 $53,515, MPI 2.74% Current projections from the major banks forecast the Statistics Canada Consumer Price Index (CPI) increasing by 2.0% in While CPI can be a good proxy for general cost inflation it does not align with cost pressures faced by a municipality. CPI includes measures such as housing, food and transportation which does not reflect the typical basket of goods and services acquired annually by the Town, nor does it consider the significant level of investment in capital infrastructure spending or the impact of flat-lined revenue sources such as grants, investment income and most transfers from reserve. To account for the differences and more accurately reflect the inflationary pressures facing the Town a customized Municipal Price Index (MPI) has been developed and has been in use since The MPI is an inflationary index based specifically on the mix of goods and services purchased by the Town calculated as a weighted average of price increases for each component in the Town s budget and has been developed in accordance with Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) best practices.

20 Spending priorities for the Town of Milton 2017 Milton Resident and Business Budget Survey Summary submitted by Nanos to Town of Milton, June 2017

21 > A Most Milton residents are satisfied with value for tax dollars; a majority feel more should be invested in roads majority of Milton residents say that they receive good or very good value for their tax dollars, while just over half say they prefer an increase in taxes either to enhance services or to maintain current service levels. A majority of Milton residents also say they feel that more tax dollars should be invested in the road network. Impression of value received for tax dollars Two thirds of Milton residents say that they receive good or very good value for their tax dollars Two thirds of telephone survey respondents say that they value they receive for tax dollars is good (51%) or very good (15%), while nearly a quarter (24%) say it is fair. Six per cent say the value is poor and two percent say it is very poor. Three per cent are unsure. tably the level of satisfaction among the self-selected respondents to the online survey is lower than that among respondents to the random telephone survey, with fewer than half of the online respondents saying that the value for tax dollars is good (37%) or very good (five per cent), and 37 per cent saying it is fair, while 12 per cent say poor and six per cent say very poor. Three per cent are unsure. Tax dollars invested in Town services Two thirds of Milton residents say more tax dollars should be invested in the road network Telephone survey results indicate that two thirds of Milton residents (66%) feel the amount of tax dollars invested in the road network should be increased, nearly a third (31%) say it should be maintained and two per cent that they should be decreased. Two per cent are unsure. Half of Milton residents say that more tax dollars should be invested in economic development According to the telephone survey, half of Milton residents (50%) say tax dollars invested in economic development should be increased, while 37 per cent say they should be maintained and six per cent say they should be decreased. Six per cent are unsure. Just under half of Milton residents say that more tax dollars should be invested in planning for growth As indicated by the telephone survey, just under half of Milton residents (47%) feel that the amount of tax dollars invested in planning for growth should be increased, while about a third (34%) say it should be maintained and 15 per cent say it should be decreased. Four per cent are unsure. 2

22 Less than half of Milton residents say that more tax dollars should be invested in transit Based on the results of the telephone survey, under half of Milton residents (45%) feel that tax dollars invested in transit should be increased, nearly two fifths (39%) say they should be maintained and seven per cent say they should be decreased. Nine per cent are unsure. Three fifths of Milton residents say that the amount of tax dollars invested in recreation should be maintained Three fifths (60%) of Milton residents feel that the amount of tax dollars invested in recreations should be maintained, while a third (33%) say it should be increased and three per cent say it should be decreased, as per the results of the telephone survey. Four per cent of telephone survey respondents say that they are unsure. Nearly two thirds of Milton residents say that the amount of tax dollars invested in the library should be maintained Telephone survey results indicated that almost two thirds (65%) of Milton residents feel that the amount of tax dollars invested in the library should be maintained, while a quarter (25%) say it should be increased and five per cent say it should be decreased. Five per cent are unsure. Tax levels versus service delivery Milton residents are divided over the balance between taxation and service delivery Asked about their preferred balance between taxation and service delivery levels, the residents of Milton are split three ways between increasing taxes and spending to enhance services (27%), increasing taxes to maintain services at current levels (26%) and cutting services to maintain current tax level (24%), as indicated by the telephone survey results. Thirteen per cent prefer cutting services and reducing taxes and 10 per cent are unsure. Just over half of Milton residents support or somewhat support a 1% increase in property taxes According to the telephone survey results, just over half of Milton residents support (33%) or somewhat support (19%) a 1% increase in property taxes to specifically fund rehabilitation of Town assets, such as roads and buildings, while 38 per cent oppose and seven per cent somewhat oppose such an increase. Four per cent are unsure. These observations are based on an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) random telephone and online random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton from June 11 th to the 19 th, 2017, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20, and an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton from May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017 through an open link. margin of error applies to the online survey. Readers should focus on the random telephone survey as a reasonable reflection of opinion. This study was commissioned by the Town of Milton. 3

23 Value received for tax dollars Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey, May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=617. margin of error applies to this survey. Source: Town of Milton, online survey, May 29 th to July 7 th, 2014, n=421 residents of Town of Milton. margin of error applies to this research. Source: Town of Milton, online survey, May 31 st to July 1 st, 2016, n=643 residents of Town of Milton. margin of error applies to this research phone 15% 51% 24% 6% 3% online 5% 37% 37% 12% 6%3% % 42% 29% 11% 6% % 49% 34% 10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Very good Good Fair Poor Very poor Unsure *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Percentages equal to or lower than two per cent have been removed for legibility. QUESTION Given all of the programs and services provided by the Town, would you rate the value you are receiving for your tax dollars as 4

24 Tax dollars invested in Town services - telephone Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Road network 66% 31% Economic development 50% 37% 6% 6% Planning for growth 47% 34% 15% 4% Transit 45% 39% 7% 9% Recreation 33% 60% 3% 4% Library 25% 65% 5% 5% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Increased Maintained Decreased Unsure *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Percentages equal to or lower than two per cent have been removed for legibility. QUESTION To follow is a list of Town services. Please indicate if you feel the amount of tax dollars invested should be increased, maintained or decreased in the following areas. [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] 5

25 Tax dollars invested in Town services - online Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=580. margin of error applies to this survey. Road network 62% 31% 5% Economic development 50% 39% 7% 5% Planning for growth 48% 34% 15% 3% Transit 38% 39% 16% 7% Recreation 37% 51% 8% 4% Library 15% 66% 13% 5% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Increased Maintained Decreased Unsure *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Percentages equal to or lower than two per cent have been removed for legibility. **te: The online survey is not a reliable indicator of opinion since participants are self-selected. QUESTION To follow is a list of Town services. Please indicate if you feel the amount of tax dollars invested should be increased, maintained or decreased in the following areas. [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] 6

26 Tax dollars invested in road network Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=579. margin of error applies to this survey. Decreased 2% Unsure 2% Telephone (n=402) Online (n=579) Increased 65.8% 62.3% Maintained 30.8% 31.3% Maintained 31% Increased 66% Decreased 1.8% 5.4% Unsure 1.7% 1.0% *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Chart values are based on the telephone survey. QUESTION To follow is a list of Town services. Please indicate if you feel the amount of tax dollars invested should be increased, maintained or decreased in the following areas. [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] Road network (ease of getting around, traffic flow, bike lanes, pedestrian crossings) 7

27 Tax dollars invested in transit Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=580. margin of error applies to this survey. Decreased 7% Unsure 9% Increased 45% Telephone (n=402) Online (n=580) Increased 44.9% 38.3% Maintained 39.3% 38.6% Decreased 6.6% 16.0% Unsure 9.3% 7.1% Maintained 39% *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Chart values are based on the telephone survey. QUESTION To follow is a list of Town services. Please indicate if you feel the amount of tax dollars invested should be increased, maintained or decreased in the following areas. [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] Transit (service availability, frequency, accessibility) 8

28 Tax dollars invested in planning for growth Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=579. margin of error applies to this survey. Decreased 15% Unsure 4% Increased 47% Telephone (n=402) Online (n=579) Increased 46.8% 48.4% Maintained 33.8% 33.5% Decreased 15.3% 14.9% Unsure 4.1% 3.3% Maintained 34% *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Chart values are based on the telephone survey. QUESTION To follow is a list of Town services. Please indicate if you feel the amount of tax dollars invested should be increased, maintained or decreased in the following areas. [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] Planning for growth (how and where the community grows) 9

29 Tax dollars invested in economic development Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=579. margin of error applies to this survey. Decreased 6% Unsure 6% Telephone (n=402) Online (n=579) Increased 50.1% 49.6% Maintained 37.4% 39.0% Increased 50% Decreased 6.3% 6.9% Unsure 6.3% 4.5% Maintained 37% *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Chart values are based on the telephone survey. QUESTION To follow is a list of Town services. Please indicate if you feel the amount of tax dollars invested should be increased, maintained or decreased in the following areas. [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] Economic development (investment attraction, job creation, innovation/entrepreneurship) 10

30 Tax dollars invested in recreation Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=579. margin of error applies to this survey. Decreased 3% Unsure 4% Increased 33% Telephone (n=402) Online (n=579) Increased 32.6% 37.3% Maintained 60.3% 50.6% Decreased 3.4% 8.1% Unsure 3.7% 4.0% Maintained 60% *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Chart values are based on the telephone survey. QUESTION To follow is a list of Town services. Please indicate if you feel the amount of tax dollars invested should be increased, maintained or decreased in the following areas. [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] Recreation (program types and availability for such programs as sport/fitness, swimming, visual arts, camps) 11

31 Tax dollars invested in library Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=580. margin of error applies to this survey. Decreased 5% Unsure 5% Increased 25% Telephone (n=402) Online (n=580) Increased 24.7% 15.2% Maintained 65.4% 66.4% Decreased 5.2% 13.4% Unsure 4.7% 5.0% Maintained 65% *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Chart values are based on the telephone survey. QUESTION To follow is a list of Town services. Please indicate if you feel the amount of tax dollars invested should be increased, maintained or decreased in the following areas. [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] Library (collection materials, programs and services offered) 12

32 Balance of taxation and service delivery Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=566. margin of error applies to this survey. Source: Town of Milton, online survey, May 31 st to July 1 st, 2016, n=643 residents of Town of Milton. margin of error applies to this research phone 27% 26% 24% 13% 10% online 36% 13% 20% 14% 18% % 22% 33% 12% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Increase taxes and spend to enhance services Cut services to maintain current tax level Unsure Increase taxes to maintain services at current levels Cut services and reduce taxes *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding QUESTION As you may know there are trade-offs between investments in things like services and infrastructure and property tax levels. Due to the increased cost of maintaining current service levels and infrastructure, the Town must balance taxation and service delivery levels. Which of the following four options would you prefer the Town to pursue? [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] 13

33 Balance of taxation and service delivery Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=566. margin of error applies to this survey. Cut services and reduce taxes 13% Cut services to maintain current tax level 24% Unsure 10% Increase taxes and spend to enhance services 27% Increase taxes to maintain services at current levels 26% Increase taxes and spend to enhance services Increase taxes to maintain services at current levels Cut services to maintain tax level Cut services and reduce taxes Telephone (n=402) Online (n=566) 27.1% 36.1% 25.8% 12.9% 23.8% 19.4% 13.1% 13.8% Unsure 10.3% 17.8% *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Chart values are based on the telephone survey. QUESTION As you may know there are trade-offs between investments in things like services and infrastructure and property tax levels. Due to the increased cost of maintaining current service levels and infrastructure, the Town must balance taxation and service delivery levels. Which of the following four options would you prefer the Town to pursue? [RANDOMIZED QUESTION] 14

34 1% increase in property taxes Source: Nanos Research, RDD dual frame hybrid telephone and online random survey, June 11 th to 19 th, 2017, n=402, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Source: Nanos Research, online survey. May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017, n=566. margin of error applies to this survey. Oppose 38% Unsure 4% Support 33% Telephone (n=402) Online (n=566) Support 32.6% 23.9% Somewhat support 18.8% 30.2% Somewhat oppose 6.5% 13.8% Oppose 38.1% 29.5% Unsure 4.1% 3% Somewhat oppose 7% Somewhat support 19% *te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Chart values are based on the telephone survey. QUESTION Would you support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or oppose a dedicated 1% increase in property taxes to specifically fund rehabilitation of Town assets, such as roads and buildings? This dedicated increase would be in addition to any other changes in property taxes approved by Milton Town Council. 15

35 Methodology Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) random telephone and online random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton from June 11 th to the 19 th, 2017, accurate 5.0 percentage points plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and administered a survey. Nanos also conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton from May 30 th to June 19 th, 2017 through an open link. margin of error applies to the online survey because participants were self-selected. Individuals were randomly called using random digit dialling with a maximum of five call backs. The research was commissioned by the Town of Milton. te: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding. 16

36 Element Technical te Telephone Survey Description Element Description Organization who commissioned the research The Town of Milton Weighting of Data The results were weighted by age and gender using the latest Census information (2014). See tables for full weighting disclosure Final Sample Size 402 residents of the Town of Milton. Margin of Error ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Screening Screening ensured potential respondents did not work in the market research industry, in the advertising industry, in the media or a political party prior to administering the survey to ensure the integrity of the data. Mode of Survey RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) random telephone survey Excluded Demographics Individuals younger than 18 years old; individuals without land or cell lines could not participate. Sampling Method Base The sample included both land- and cell-lines RDD (Random Digit Dialed) in the Town of Milton. Stratification Byage and gender using the latest Census information (2014). Demographics (Captured) Fieldwork/Validation Number of Calls Time of Calls Men and Women; 18 years and older. Six digit postal code was used to validate geography. Live interviews with live supervision to validate work as per the MRIA Code of Conduct Maximum of five call backs. Field Dates June 11 th to 19 th, Language of Survey Individuals were called between 12-5:30 pm and 6:30-9:30pm local time for the respondent. The survey was conducted in English. Estimated Response Rate Question Order Question Content Question Wording Survey Company Contact Ten per cent, consistent with industry norms. Question order in the preceding report reflects the order in which they appeared in the original questionnaire. All questions asked are contained in this report. The questions in the preceding report are written exactly as they were asked to individuals. Nanos Research Contact Nanos Research for more information or with any concerns or questions. Telephone:(613) ext. info@nanosresearch.com.

37 Element Technical te Online Survey Description Element Description Organization who commissioned the research The Town of Milton. Weighting of Data t applicable to this research. Final Sample Size Margin of Error 617 residents of the Town of Milton. margin of error applies. Screening Screening ensured potential respondents did not work in the market research industry, in the advertising industry, in the media or a political party prior to administering the survey to ensure the integrity of the data. Mode of Survey Online survey. Excluded Demographics t applicable to this research. Sampling Method Base Open link. Stratification t applicable to this research. Demographics (Captured) Men and Women; 18 years and older. Six digit postal code was used to validate geography. Estimated Response Rate Question Order t applicable to this research. Question order in the preceding report reflects the order in which they appeared in the original questionnaire. Fieldwork/Validation t applicable to this research. Question Content All questions asked are contained in this report. Number of Calls Time of Calls t applicable to this research. Participants were not called. Question Wording Survey Company The questions in the preceding report are written exactly as they were asked to individuals. Nanos Research Field Dates May 30 th to June 19 th, Language of Survey The survey was conducted in English. Contact Contact Nanos Research for more information or with any concerns or questions. Telephone:(613) ext. info@nanosresearch.com.

38 About Nanos Nanos is one of rth America s most trusted research and strategy organizations. Our team of professionals is regularly called upon by senior executives to deliver superior intelligence and market advantage whether it be helping to chart a path forward, managing a reputation or brand risk or understanding the trends that drive success. Services range from traditional telephone surveys, through to elite in-depth interviews, online research and focus groups. Nanos clients range from Fortune 500 companies through to leading advocacy groups interested in understanding and shaping the public landscape. Whether it is understanding your brand or reputation, customer needs and satisfaction, engaging employees or testing new ads or products, Nanos provides insight you can trust. View our brochure Nanos Research rth America Toll-free info@nanosresearch.com

39 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] A limit on the population. less development All changes to rural community are not fair - paying same as those in town Allow all the development pay a premium against services such as hospital Amount Of Homes Being Constructed Should Give Them Base Of Property Taxes; 401 Exit POOR! Any Bad snow removal service and lacking parking enforcement by laws BETTER BIKE LANES AROUND TOWN. Main street through downtown hwy 25 tremaine road Better Go train service and more departures and on weekends too Better Services for rural residents-primarily Transit; Better Transit-GO Train Should Be Improved-24Hr.SERVICE on The GO TRAIN; Build the infrastructure before you build the houses!!!\ Cancel the public transit invest it elsewhere Can t think Certain places money should be invested but public transit investment is a joke Community Centre-YMCA-Isn't YMCA in Milton-Nearest is Oakville; Milton Mall SMALL Continue on same growth pattern Control of traffic in town Continue to find the budget Crossing guards making sure the kids are getting to and from school safely current transit system is abysmal. improve availability hours reduce delays Cut services. reduce taxes. there's no money left. we can t afford it Cut taxes and leave rural resident alone Cutting grass and roadways along boulevards Dealing with commercial areas to benefit the community Decrease taxes and waste Decreased the rate of growth Definitely slow down the development ridiculous what this little town has become Department stores Traffic lights Do a better job at controlling their spending Do not increase the residential/rural housing in Milton. Build infrastructure! Do not know Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 1

40 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Do not raise my taxes and give yourself a raise Doesn t agree with taxation of rural residents Doing a great job Don t know Education Empty buses running around for the majority of the time and it costs money Environment we have horrible trees in Milton we don t have proper trees here Facility For Indoor Tennis-RETRACTABLE DOME-Existing Facility has 8 Courts; Factor in pre-existing locations when expanding town don t forget about old town Feedback is not on cutting when maintaining taxes about rebalancing Find a way to better manage traffic perhaps right-turn only lanes between 0630&08 Fire dept should remain as a volunteer service b/c of the decreased fire calls Fix the sidewalk in front of my place Friendlier people to work in Town-The Town Hall; t helpful & not nice; Funding for arts should be increased. right now we spend too much on sports Get rid of some of the higher paid lackey they have there Go Train - increase trips Toronto Growing far too fast and the roads are not keeping up with the growth rate Growth be planned accordingly infrastructure in place before growth; Growth should come to a hold- until we have school and roads fully completed Growth Out of proportion-i live On Derry Rd (McNiven & TownRd) HEAVY Traffic! Need Policing! Have the development companies contribute to maintaining and enhancing roads Healthcare and hospitals are slow High prices of taxes Higher connectivity (between 401 and 407) more roads Higher on developers I cannot tell you now. I do not think we should be paying more for roads I do not pay tax and I rent. I feel that the all the council are incompetent and don't use taxes well. I guess services for seniors & tax cuts for seniors I haven't seen the town budget Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 2

41 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] I live close by the pipeline I suggest they don't cut grass allow it to grow I think it's about the roads. i.e. Derry Road to maintain before new people come I think some of the older pathways should be properly maintained. Walkways. I think they should build university of Laurier and Sheridan college I think they should keeping pushing for the Wilfrid Laurier university campus I would just reconsider the right turn lanes I would like to see therapeutic program for disabled people and victims I'd like them to think of Campbellville as part of Milton and not outside of it Improve garbage collection service without raising taxes in the country Improve roads Improve traffic do not increase taxes or not by much at least Increase educational level and economic attraction Increase or improve snow removal on secondary roads--takes a couple of days Increase resources for the libraries (for university students) extended hours Increasing budget for public transportation Increase school supplies Infrastructure needs improvement/traffic level insane Infrastructure needs to be addressed before new housing developments Infrastructure being a priority Investing in the roads network has to be proportional with economic growth Is there advocating for go-transit increased go-train access and frequency I've lived here for 37 years I feel like I had better service then than now Just keep doing the job Just provide more services for Milton residents between luxury & entertainment Just the infrastructure Keep the same. do not spend foolishly Keep up hospital expansion. keep up with rapid growth Less subcontracting Lifelong bread in Milton over 50 years disappointed in the way the town is run Maintain infrastructure Maintain levels with no tax increase. no rural taxes to urban Milton Maintenance of Boulevards-as per Views & Scenic Routes Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 3

42 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Maintenance of rural roads Making sure budget is being use as to needed infrastructure Manage expenses rather than raise taxes Manage the current funds better Milton Growing so quickly: Traffic Flow-Development of Main Street Steeles & 401; Milton Mall. Promoted it losing stores in downtown being neglected. access t Mohawk tax revenue + increased population=increased tax revenue-no tax increase! ne More Economic Growth-1.Post-Secondary-2.Evaluate Demographics/Recreation (Fees) More employment opportunities- in Libraries - recreational centers More Main Roads Widening-Brittania Road is still 2 lanes; Steeles & Derry Rd.; More pedestrian safe crossings continued discussions w/ prov about growth More people are coming More programs for adults More programs for low income families more subsidized housing. More realistic taxation More recreation activities towards Campbellville. how are they short on tax money More recreation areas for kids More Recreational Services to Rural Areas-Campbellville-Indoor Swimming Pool-Win More services in the surrounding rural areas More transparency from the town as to how taxation is done More trees More trees in town- they are cutting and not replacing... My concern is about residential units. infrastructure should increase to handle My only suggestion is that they try to maintain it & not raise it Needing of green space Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 4

43 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED NO NO NO NO Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 5

44 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED NO NO NO Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 6

45 NO NO Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] NO everything is fine I don't have anything else to say not at this time not really that is good- great town to live in they already increased the tax 2 weeks ago they don't listen comment comment comment comment comment Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 7

46 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] comment comment comments comments comments comments considerations at the present time; I do not I don t I don't NO I don't think so increase lower taxes problem thank you thanks.. NO.. e ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne pe Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 8

47 pe pe. t any t any t any t any Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] t at this point t at this time t enough spending to bring business to create jobs t really t really t sell of greenspace inside Milton. Parks and little school yards not sell NOT SURE IF THE TAXES ARE BEING USED WISELY. more numbers on taxes being used t that come to mind right now no t up to date. thing thing NOTHING thing thing thing thing thing at the moment thing specific. good job maintaining services while we ve been growing Our infrastructure (roads) is coming AFTER the housing development Parking Problems-only allowed up to 18 days out of the year; & Houses Small Drive Pedestrian area in down town to be improved because it is too much traffic Property taxes no grow up Province is not kicking in for growth potential Put the horse before the cart Raise main holes to road levels. Recycling bins that don't spill when it's really windy similar to Peele Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 9

48 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Redistribute new tax dollars better (taxes from new residents) Road system is horrible commute to Mississauga is bad. Marlin Swim team pool Roads are good Roads need to be maintained; Salaries not going up vs. increase in property taxes Roads really need to be looked at. They're doing too much building Should increase taxes on commercial properties and businesses Smarter when it comes to planning for growth. included growth for aging citizens Snow removal is not effective at ALL snow causes cars to block ends of street Snow removal people need to know where the bus pads are &careful of internet line Some of that money could be spent on keeping the town a little better than it is They re already getting too much taxes Some of the secondary roads not used for transit need paving Some of the services need to be checked on like garbage services it's terrible Sorry no none Spend more carefully taxes are high enough Spend the money that people can enjoy Spend too much money on transit system not being used-buses are always empty; Spend what is necessary for the increased size of the community Spending more for recreation for kids and adults Spending on bus services Start cleaning up more (main street is dirty-pick up garbage) Support more children services improve day care options Support transportation tax increase- Taxes are too artificially low reserve funds expanding invest growth Take care of road in small streets. Donnelly street in specific Take into consideration the next budget planning Taxes are increased I don't know where the money's going-put in more roads Taxes are too high than the services we receive. The casino Taxes go back down The biggest pain is that the infrastructure comes after the fact think ahead The development companies should be more accountable for providing additionals The infrastructure cannot accommodate the fast growth need better roads Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 10

49 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] The money is well spent I think. The older section of Milton should not be destroyed in building new homes The roads need improvement because of volume of traffic The roads that are being put in are inadequate and unsafe The Roads-getting in/out of Milton-Britannia The town should get additional funding by taxing the builders There are a ton of programs/services for toddlers but not enough for teens There is no fast internet in CAMPBELLVILLE There needs to be more go trains to downtown from Milton in the day They need to be very cognizant of some of the issues of older Milton They need to bring better internet service Campbellville They need to charge land developers They need to get the fund back- and tax has to be the same... They need to have garbage service every week. Need more sports high level. They need to look at the roads they are in terrible condition They need to make better use of the tax dollars they already receive They need to stop the growth stop lights not synchronized it's terrible They need to think about seniors; who they are pricing out of their homes They should review the budget and they should stick to it They should be more efficient with funding: they have plenty of it but misused They should continue their investment in community groups through grant funding They should have built the hospital before the increase in population They should more hospitals and other facilities They sold Milton down the river. The people are too greedy. They ve done a good job in past. Maintain that. fiscally I m speaking Too much traffic Traffic should be looked into Transit network between Oakville Milton Burlington with a hub Use the tax dollars to provide more jobs. Build new infrastructure. Watch the cost We need better infrastructure for the town maintain current water availability We need more schools and libraries and develop the roads traffic flow Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 11

50 Town of Milton Telephone Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] We would like to be on Town Sewage Line of Milton-we are Septic (NW End Of Milton) When the snow plow comes in winter it heaps snow across our driveway -clear that Widen the roads. deal with empty buses Within the limit awareness of services the town offers should be increased Work on the roads Yeah make the roads bigger Yes I'd like to see the bylaws. YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT OUR TRANIST. IT IS TERRIBLE. Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell- lines) telephone random survey of 402 residents of the Town of Milton, 18 years of age or older, between June 11 th to 19 th, The margin of error for a random survey of 402 residents of Milton is ±5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. te that the telephone results were weighted to the population and not to property tax owners, using the demographics provided by the Town of Milton. Page 12

51 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] 1. The rate of inflation in Canada is [measured]* by the CPI. That should be baseline against which any increases are compared. The recent creation of [an] alternate measurement (municipal inflation rate, or whatever) was a completely amateurish intent to get more money from taxpayers. 2. The current process of selecting the most politically sensitive or highly visible projects/expenditures and then as Town Council to resolve is a complete embarrassment. The Town's Finance department should present the Top 10 tax expenditures and their respective increases and make recommendations for reductions to achieve a tax increase no greater than CPI. 3. The Town should be required to conduct reviews after the completion of major projects where the final cost is compared against the estimated cost that was used to [gain] agreement for the initiative to proceed. Town personnel should be held accountable for variances from the initial budget that are could have been avoided or were ignored when asking for the initial funding. 4. Transit expenditures should be justified based in increased ridership. There needs to be a formal process, with published results, that documents ridership levels. 5. Libraries are increasingly becoming relics of the past. Expenditures should reflect true usage of the library. 6. Milton is a commuter town.. like it or not. There are lots of cars and there will continue to be even more cars. Investments should be made in traffic control systems and automation to improve the flow of traffic in town. 7. In the interest of true transparency, the Town should publish all of the input received in this survey (rather than cherry picking the comments that are helpful for the increased expenditure. 8. At the start of the budgeting cycle, department heads should be asked to publicly document what actions they took during the previous year to reduce costs or at a minimum maintain current expenditure levels. Thanks. 1. Waste bins around parks and walk ways as there is so much garbage thrown. 2. Milton transit - more frequency of buses 3. The GO train should have more frequency during the week and the weekends. Many residents rely on this. A great job has been done on the parks, lots of green space for families. Traffic plans need to be made for downtown. A future where main street is closed to cars (similar to Stephen avenue in Calgary) would really create an atmosphere and allow restaurant etc.. to flourish. The road and infrastructure are not suited to increase capacity in the future. Better to create a [unique] area where businesses can thrive and the community can meet and upgrade alternative arteries. As it stands Main Street is an accident waiting to happen for pedestrians. Act like the rest of the population and live within your means. Tax payers do not have an endless amount of money to keep paying increased taxes, especially seniors and lower income families. *te that the words in brackets have been corrected for spelling. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 1

52 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] After living in Milton for over 15 years all I've noticed is a loss in services but never a loss [in] property taxes I seen garbage collection reduced my street is rarely ploughed and always last to be done. If the town wants to expand then the companies and the contractors that they use in order to grow this city should also be responsible for making sure the proper roads and infrastructure is in place and that should not be put on the back's of long time homeowners who really don't want the town to grow anymore As a Milton resident since 1983 I have seen my taxes continually increase and services continually decrease. I am now one of the people that see politicians as part of the problem not part of the solution. As a result of the increased rural tax burden, I would like to see an increase in rural services. I would like the roads to be properly paved with adequate shoulders for biking and walking. I would like a police presence on our roads as dangerous driving behaviors are highly evident. The lack of police presence resulting in unbridled dangerous driving combined with inadequate roads is an undesirable aspect of rural life. It is in everyone's best interest to safeguard the ability of rural residents to be active in the community. Our rural roads make being active difficult. Improved internet connectivity is also a priority. As a rural resident, I do not have access to many of the same services as urban residents (local library branch, permanent fire department, side walk clearing, yard waste pick up, etc.). Since our taxes were increased this year, the town has only foolishly spent money by introducing a transit route, which was not requested by the rural residents, in an attempt to appear to be offering services to us. This is insulting to our intelligence and I think the town would be best suited to change their approach to rural residents, as there are many well off and influential people who are rural residents, who can impact the town either positively or negatively. If the town were to treat rural residents equal to urban residents, given our taxes will be treated evenly, the town would be more likely to have the support of these important residents. As our community grows fast. We need to maintain the minimum average level of Milton [residents] regardless [of] who is moving lately here. The property [taxes] have increased within last 2 [years] but the new expansion lol companstion the budget needies. yet we need to be able to maintain our life style [in order] to fulfill our finance commitments. I [oppose] it. Asking the rural residents to pay for services that we do not have is wrong. It was a cheap political stunt, done to try and win votes in the next election. We do not have sidewalks, streetlights, a library, a pool, or even 1 single full time firefighter. So asking us to pay full price for services we can never receive is unfair and shameful. I wish the rural area could leave Milton as you don't care about us anyway. Better use of municipal employees. Work a big more. Bike lanes on highway 25 from Louis st. Laurent to 407. Some drivers on that section speed well over the speed limit and have complete disregard for cyclist. Bring back the urban tax levy, taxes based on services available to area Build more [infrastructure]. Less houses. Expanded road lanes. Better zoning for commercial properties Campbellville is not fairly treated by Milton Unfair tax increase for no services. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 2

53 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Consider a proper forestry section. More town meetings regarding the growth of Main Street and its new businesses. Consider reviewing Salary level of town staff. What percentage of my property tax goes to salary and benefits? Consider ways to put a stay on immediate residential building unless you consider future residential development for seniors - rental units, housing on the lines of Drury Park which would help control rising prices in this area as demand far outweighs supply right now Continue and get better at fiscal responsibility and transparency. Continued support of recreational programs for youth is needed. Cost of things such as ice time needs to be kept at current levels, the increasing costs over the past few years and limited ice availability results in higher costs for less time for kids who are involved in ice sports. This has to be stopped. Ice sports are the most costly sports and are becoming unaffordable for many families. We are Canadian, the kids should be able to pursue ice sports at a reasonable cost. Library services are fantastic however, it is becoming difficult to find a seat [at] the library during prime time for kids and adults to be able to study. Need to expand both Ice and Library facilities SOON!!! Cut transit. Too many public Works people sitting in parks doing nothing. Focus on economic development, I shouldn't have to drive to Mississauga for everything. Bylaw should do more proactive things to ensure the community is maintained. Get rid of the overnight parking ban when it's not winter, that is nothing but a tax grab. Derry (near trafalgar) traffic getting worse and worse, it need to be improved. big box stores at south west Milton. Everyone drive on Thompson weekend do shopping. Developers should be required to carry a larger burden of infrastructure costs on an ongoing basis Do not forget the rural area, having the bus service is a good start. Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. Don't forget about the rural folks, we provide support just like the folks in town - we have a say as well! Enhance roads, underpasses/rail bridges before all the people move into the new sub divisions north of Britannia. Waiting for traffic to get to be a mess before doing anything is too reactionary. -Find new creative ways of maximizing taxes collected e.g increase competition for city Contracts, audit work [done] by contract providers,. -Find creative ways of raising revenue besides tax increases - Make bold investments enough for a return! Invest in the future in transit, hospitality, school institutions etc. -Milton is turning into a terrace town with greedy developers. Please get them to space out homes. The clustered look is bad in the long term aspect I. E cost of service delivery, retaining/ attracting home owners/ etc Fix the traffic flow in and around Milton. The roads are getting dangerous. Focus on connectivity with neighbouring municipalities especially roads and traffic flow. With increasing population the town has not kept well with infrastructure. Focus on funding for recreation as Milton has SOOO many children. Libraries, pools, SKATING RINK that you can actually skate on without having to line up 2 hours before public skate opens. Roads are fine to me, and it doesn't seem like Milton has trouble putting up houses and sub divisions! Focus on the community - we need better roads, less traffic, jobs closer to home and programs for our kids! Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 3

54 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] For our community to be funded well a slight increase in taxes is not bad trade off. Go Train Parking Deck a must Great job on all of the new park spaces. Ensure to keep a sufficient budget to maintain existing parks in older parts of town. Current residences enjoy them and want to make sure they don't get overlooked with new development/parks in the newer areas. Have lived in Milton for over 39 years. Would like to see more senior bungalow residences built. Having worked in municipal government for 33 years in 2 municipalities (now retired from social services) I know that business and program efficiencies can be identified and implemented. The lack of temporary funding and resources to support staff reports to senior management and council and then business analyst supports to document and support changes is significantly lacking. Builders should be helping to financially support roads and community infrastructure if growth is to be supported at current rates Highest on my list are better road infrastructure to improve travel to [Mississauga] and better connectivity to adjoining cities through public transit. How can council reject the reports from paid consultants and employees that specialize in a particular area? Working [their] own agenda I'm guessing. I am a resident. City should plan [more] for businesses universities and [colleges]. Road are not in good condition. Schools are overcrowded. Population is increasing and schools are not enough. Please give a good attention on this kids are not getting good attention due to overcrowded schools.. [It s] really hard to move around in rush hours in the city. Looks like only working on new communities [don t] care about kids and jobs. I am concerned about the continued explosion of growth without, what it seems, the proper infrastructure being in place - - especially roads to handle all of the increased traffic I am primarily participating in this survey to help support more spending on recreation facilities. I answered unsure for the question regarding taxes because there wasn't an option to have an audit done of how the money is spent. I think there could be some savings found if this was done. I can not answer if we should increase or decrease budgets without knowing the current budget first. This makes this survey a bit tricky. Maybe a better question is how do I prioritize these services. I do not want to pay for the services the Town of Milton wants to supply. I want to be left alone and pay less tax. I have been a swimmer with the Milton Masters for almost 20 years and we struggle with the yearly raise in our fees. Please support adults in their fitness goals and help us with our ever-increasing pool rental fees. Thank you. I just want a faster transit system to downtown Toronto and a better Go parking. Can't show up after 8am. parking spots! I don't care about bus systems here. We just need faster transit to downtown Toronto and investment here will increase. I live in Brookville and our tax hike was unfair for the services we receive. Very unhappy with the outcome and could NOT afford another increase! Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 4

55 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] I live in Nassagaweya and feel that our taxes should not be as high as the other areas of town as we have less services. I am on well water and septic. Why should I help pay for the people on town water and sewer to pay for that service. I live in rural Milton. I want fewer services and want to pay less for less service. I live in the Dorset park area and I believe it is unfair to not have a dedicated bus route here. I remember Rotary Park got a splash pad back in ~2003 (14 years ago). Today I walk by it to the farmer's market and it's been completely demolished, assume at tax payers' expense. Seems a short lifespan. Longevity of projects should be considered when approving them. Also Milton is an growing population (more property tax revenue). Why is the town council looking to increase property taxes? t explained in the survey. What good is a survey if you can't be transparent? I said oppose the last question because the roads need to be worked on but I don't think there are many building requiring an increased budget. All the town buildings I've been in are in very good shape, but our roads in and out are terrible I see shortage of strip malls in the town, especially west side. Town should allocate space for strip malls whenever a new sub division is created. New roads should be at least 6 lanes wide to accommodate the growing population of Milton. I think increasing rural taxes was a mistake. We don't need bus service. Spend our taxes on adding pathways next to busy rural roads I think that the taxes raised are well spent but that they should be increased. Milton has the lowest property tax rate in the GTA except for Toronto. We can well afford an increase that would allow for increased funding for the future maintenance of our infrastructure. A concern of mine is Town understaffing. A KPMG report a few years ago said that Milton needs more staff to continue to function well. Another is that our transit system needs the necessary investments for it to be convenient to use for all citizens. Maintenance of landscaping is another area where improvement is needed. I think that there are specific parings that can be done rather than cut services and maintain taxes answer that I gave above. The council has to consider where it should be a service and where not. Transit will be hard to fund because of sprawl rather than intense nodes of population and street scapes. Intensification must be considered and implemented. The development charges should be paying for new growth, I am encouraged by the regions approach to the Province "not enough money no development". In fact I would be very willing to consider a single tier of government and cut out the local level. Why do we [have] two planning depts. we already live in the most regulated area in Ontario, NEC, greenbelt then 2 planning depts then conservation hydro, NO wonder it takes so long to get anything done. I likely will not see it because we do not have the type of councillors who are prepared to do themselves out of a job. Cutting one level of bureaucracy would save us many dollars when you are looking for savings. I think the town should consider budgeting for a second, larger outdoor pool for public use. One small pool is usually too crowded on hot summer days. I was born at MDH and have been living here for 38 years. I have raised my family here and love it. The only thing I would complain about is the lack of infrastructure- Who decided to make the infrastructure after the population exploded? It now takes almost fifteen minutes to get from one side of the original square to the other side. It is extremely frustrating. I also would like to see a multi level parking structure at the go-train station. It's impossible to get a parking spot. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 5

56 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] I would like Council to consider what is right for the Town in the long term and not worry about the vote. The Town is growing and tough decisions need to be made. Investment in the Town by increasing taxes to pay for infrastructure rehabilitation is necessary, as well as to expand services. Facilities/property need to be maintained and staff need to be hired to support the growth and volume to keep up with and increase levels of service. It's embarrassing to have people come to Milton and use disgusting public washrooms, because there are not enough staff to clean them more frequently, as an example. I would like to see more services and programs available in rural Milton. I would love to see a mobile library to come to the area. Adding transit to the area has been wonderful! If only you could add a stop on Main Street Milton so we could go shopping/dinner. I would like to see the town of Milton work with the provincial government to work on all day go service. This will allow better traffic flow [as] a lot more people would be interested in taking the train to Toronto and back home. Furthermore this would alleviate the traffic gridlock [that] plagues this town on a daily basis. That's where I want to see our tax dollars go. In my opinion this will also attract families to move to Milton therefore increasing our tax dollars. Without all day train service from Milton to union station we will not be successful in growth. I would love to see a designated warm pool in Milton. A pool where people with injuries and chronic illness can work on rehab. Bonus if it's salt water. It is one thing that most cities have and Milton does not. I would only support an increase in taxes, at a maximum, equal to the rate of inflation. Other expenditures should come from rebalancing existing programs and /or the new revenues being generated from new residences and businesses. Much, much more effort needs to be made on seriously improved productivity in all departments. I'd like to see the town of Milton incorporate health in all policies as it plans for the upcoming year. I'd like to see the transit system invested in: 1. communication: promotion to use/benefits of using 2. more evening routes as an option for residents (eg., from the movies, bars/restaurants) 3. more options for payment: pre-pay multiple months in advance, access mobile APP where you can purchase tickets/add on to existing pass/routes/outages/links to other systems etc If the town is going to excessively tax the rural area for services [then] provide the service or cut the taxes back to the appropriate levels that they were at!!! If the town wishes to raise our taxes in order to maintain the current level of service it provides, I would hope some of the money would go towards opposing the CN rail yard which will only further increase our taxes and decrease our property values. I realize that's a little off topic but my family and I will be leaving Milton if that intermodal goes through and we have been here for generations. If there is any spending on roads, best to look at widening the Britannia Corridor since City planning had increased Residential Houses in Ontario 25/Britannia area. The traffic in the Britannia is terrible going East in the morning and going home in the evening. if you are going to raise taxes they need to be used to build better roads in and out of Milton to Mississauga and Oakville. I'm glad to be part of this decision. Great initiative by Milton. improve roads especially Britannia Road and Lower Base Line to 4-lanes to ease congestion. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 6

57 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Improve traffic flow through town by adding dedicated right hand turn lanes and time the lights so you don't hit a red light at every intersection. Increase the maintenance at town facilities (Leisure and Sports Centre). Even though they are new facilities they are starting to look run down and not maintained. Add additional family skate and swim times on the weekend. It seems the only availability is during the day between Monday to Friday when people are actually working and kids are in school. Increase the park maintenance as the weeds are out of control and the parks look terrible! In some of the areas there are more weeds than grass! Try and do something to get high paying jobs within the Town instead of minimum wage warehouse jobs. Improved traffic flow, particularly advanced green or other safe turning options must be a priority. I would also support the installation of more red light cameras. I would like to commend the town on the revitalization of parks in older subdivisions. Incorporate zeroscaping or business sponsored landscaping (like Oakville/Burlington) in town maintained boulevards, islands along roadways. Currently we have dead trees & it looks terrible. Increase jobs in Milton Increase taxes on business rather than residents. Also think of creative ways to save money in non value adding spend to avoid getting tax increase. Milton is favorable in terms of tax so don't take that factor away. Increased priority in pedestrian movement and dedicated bike paths with connectivity Invest in infrastructure, one opportunity area is in Bus Stops if budget is not enough, at least add a concrete area where people can stand, when is raining there is no where to stand only on grass area, also in winter time it is very complicated for people to wait for bus in very snow floor with no area to stand, on my area you can see Bronte, Scott [and] Savoline, I am not asking for [crystal] sealing areas, just concrete floor areas Investing in town beautification projects, as well as improving park structures / features within a shorter time period (10/15 years) to maintain quality and safety without the time and cost of a full redevelopment. Investment in the growth of family friendly centres or businesses is becoming a priority. Explore grants or support for start ups focused on providing a place for families or children to play. Increasingly if you aren't a sports family you need to leave Milton to find something for your kids. And there is nowhere for teens to just hang out. Especially lacking in the arts or theatre programs for youth. Limited number of companies providing that in Milton. Investment today through modest tax increases will offset future issues with infrastructure, community engagement and livability, and growth. Acting with long term interests and challenges in mind is the right thing to do. It would be good to put in some right hand turn lanes Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 7

58 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] -It would be great to have more outdoor swimming pools in Milton. Town can sell business permits for food trucks next to each to subsidize some of their operational costs. We can have some sort of a "Milton Splash Festival" that can transform into an attraction in couple of years if planned well. These pools can then be transformed into skiing rinks if wanted. -We are in 2017/18 now. i believe Milton transit must transform to a cashless payment system. I personally do not use transit for this sole reason, and not planning to ever use it as long as i need cash to do so. It would be nice if some of the tax revenue was [apportioned] to the rural areas instead of always Milton. Water and sewage systems should be installed in smaller communities. It's difficult to open a business in Milton. Too many regulations/zoning unnecessary restrictions Just a reminder that the revenue derived from Mohawk Slots comes from Campbellville and that the status of its jurisdiction can be changed in the future. Keep a volunteer fire service. DO NOT GO FULL TIME. It's too expensive and unnecessary when fires are drastically declining. Keep tax increases at no more than the rate of inflation, unlike what was done in 2017! keep up with road development with population growth. When will Britannia be expanded to four lanes? Lawn and park maintenance requires drastic improvement. Learn how other municipalities, like Markham, is providing better services without tax increase. There are ways to increase efficiencies by transforming workforce and process improvement. A resident who works in Markham. Let maintain what the town has to offer us now and in our future. If a tax increase is needed to expand then push for it. Living in Moffat we are already getting hit hard with tax increases this year so I wouldn't (honestly [can t] handle) want an increase. I would just like to see little things done in my area like maintain road and shoulder and grass cutting along the road... these smaller things that show something is being done with the extra taxes i am paying this year. Lots of comments. ne of this applies to us folks who live at the far reaches of Milton township. We are without street lighting, water service, sewer or even gas, We have garbage pickup and that is it. I live on a road that is not properly paved, it has gravel over tar. The trees on the sides of the roads are not cut, so getting out of laneways, or even smaller roads is difficult as you can't see who is coming on connecting roads. We still don't have "real" high speed here, we have satellite dishes that work when the weather is good. Do I mind not having the above, no. In-fact, I moved up here from Ann Blvd Milton to get away from the city. But...I resent having to pay higher taxes so that the folks in the city can have a better library. I know the argument is that we rural people use the facilities of Milton. Well, most of us up here are 30 plus minutes from Milton and we use Guelph, Acton and always Rockwood for food, pharmacy needs, dog/cat food, equine products, dentists and doctors and cinemas. We don't need Milton. There is nothing there to attract me (and possibly a lot of others) One of your choices on the survey should have been "I don't care". Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 8

59 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Make taxes comparable to services rendered in Nassagaweya Make the big businesses coming into our town (eg CN intermodal train hub) pay for maintaining and increasing our infrastructure. Many of our parks need renewal. More of our ball diamonds need to be fixed up and lights should be added to most. With the growth of the sport, we don't have enough availability. The refurbishing of existing and the addition of lights would allow more games nightly. Let's try to keep our kids, teens and adults active and healthy! [Milton] is a great city. Don't get greedy and expand beyond what the current infrastructure can support. And please, if you can stop the cruddy building of Mattamy cheap (badcheap), horribly designed homes (the ones that only allow one car in driveway when most [households] have at least two) please do so. Greed for money and expansion will only take you so far until the future consequences impact future generations. Milton has never been fair to Campbellville! It's always been about raising our taxes but rarely providing us with anything. The village was very busy when we moved here 38 years ago. The shops did amazing. Main Street was packed on the weekends! Today everybody just drives through without stopping. We haven't been a destination for many years. Milton is a growing community and based on the speedy population growth, you should do future urban planning such as schools, shopping malls and recreational facilities to address the needs. [Property] Taxes can be levied and raised in a staggered manner which is the easy solution, but the council should explore innovative ideas of various revenue and funding streams. Milton is becoming a sports centric community which is fantastic. Continued spending on sport infrastructure including varied and niche sports should continue. Milton is growing abundantly, we need to make sure the infrastructure is there before it gets out of hand. This requires foresight and planning. I believe the roads are already [becoming] crowded which makes access to buildings difficult. Milton is a great family friendly community, I would however like to see more options for sit-in dining establishments. Aside from the downtown Main St area and close to Hwy 25 there are not many options. We find ourselves travelling outside Milton to Mississauga, Oakville or Burlington for good shopping/restaurants. Milton is growing larger as a community. On its current path, it's not ridiculous to say it will grow into a city within a short time. That being said, it would be wonderful if the Transit system were reworked and reconsidered with some new lines and more frequent service during certain portions of the day. The Industrial bus might also benefit from faster service. Thank you Milton is one of the fastest growing towns and no work is being done to expand roads. I will move out of Milton with my family because of the gridlock [occurring] - especially with all the new developments coming. There is no money spent on new stores, restaurants... etc. My family and I have to go to Mississauga or Oakville to find anything we need (I.e Costco and a decent mall). Milton Mall is a joke and embarrassing! I feel like nothing is being done to grow and develop Milton - the only thing growing are homes!! Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 9

60 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Milton needs better road [planning]... there are not enough for the population that [commutes] out of Milton... always stuck in traffic in Derry during rush hour Hope alternate route will be there soon Milton needs grass work and improved litter [maintenance] More educational programs for younger kids. 4 and under age area. We did swimming and [aren t] in daycare and [don t] have [a lot] of money. More emergency services!!! more fatalities and a focus on keeping them up to date. More fire services. t enough firefighters for our town's population. More focus needs to be placed on planning and maintaining. Many trees that the town planted have been left to died eventually we paid to remove them, Main and James Snow had great potential but a fence that you can see through with people's backyards right on main street was a complete waste of money. The bushed that were planted on the boulevard all had to be removed and this is all a waste of our money because the issue still exists. It is difficult to walk or ride a bike through town as accommodations were not made for this as road work was being done in many places and parking lots were allowed to be planned so tightly that cars can barely manoeuvre appropriately. We knew the growth was coming and we [know] more is still to come. We have an huge opportunity here to develop an amazing town because [the] growth is not just happening by accident, yet we are making the same mistake other places have made and instead of being an example on how things should and could be done it looks as though we are just meeting status quo. Please do not get me wrong, I moved here because I love the community and many of the services. I am energized by the growth, I just do not want to Milton become like Brampton or Hamilton. More go transit parking and trains throughout the day to Toronto Parking is becoming an increasing issue with the housing development in Milton More programs for something's to get people together in the community, courses, education, etc More senior housing and transportation needed within town. More service hours for buses Move up widening of Britannia road. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 10

61 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] My taxes have just recently increased dramatically to be the same as the urban population, however, we do not get all of the services provided to the urban residents. Is the town going to pay for my SEPTIC to be pumped? Is the town going to employ full-time firefighters in Campbellville? This was an unfair and questionable move on the part of [councillors] and the mayor and leads me to suspect that they have failed at maintaining a balanced budget with all the growth? With the added homes in urban Milton comes additional taxes from those homeowners. Why is rural Milton being forced to pay for that growth? And then a few [councillors] and one local business man decide amongst themselves to use $150k of our tax money for a BUS PILOT project? t only do I believe there has not been ridership to justify this expense, but the method in which it was decided to spend our money was undemocratic, lacked collaboration with the community as a whole and failed to even follow the Town's own [protocol]! And now clearly this survey suggests the town is looking to gauge us more for their mismanagement of finances! IF there is going to be a tax increase again for Campbellville, then I suggest those funds go towards the protection of your residents in Campbellville from the noise pollution caused by the ever increasing traffic volume on the 401! - a sound barrier wall is where all politicians should be focusing their attention on as we continue to monitor, on our own, the unacceptable levels of noise, as indicated by the Ministry of the Environment, from the 401 over the last 10 to 15 years! Despite this being a Provincial concern, the Town should be working with it's residents and providing some financial support to do the right thing! That $150k would have been a nice contribution to this priority over the bus pilot! Need clarity in where money is going. 1% increase to build roads faster (and add right turn lanes!) - many would support that, if they know the money is going there. Also, town can afford to borrow money to get roads built faster. Same with region of Halton.(different budget, I know) Need more schools, parks and roads. Stop selling areas marked as parks and commercials to residential developers. Bring more business to create jobs in town. Rather than creating warehouses. tax increase. We were told years ago that the growth would cover itself and taxes would not go up! When will you keep your promises?!!. pe t opposed to a tax increase to Spend reasonably on things that will benefit the most people. thing further to add. Thank you. w that you have made the rural residents pay the same taxes as urban Milton, we deserve to have the same quality and level of services as urban Milton. Things like libraries, sports facilities, parks, splash pads, Rec Centre's, road maintenance and cleaning all need to be fairly distributed to rural residents. Our fire department is understaffed when it comes to full time staff. I heard that 20 firefighters were on a rope rescue call and we only had maybe volunteer Ff s left in town to protect us, that is crazy for a town this size. Our parks are amazing! Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 11

62 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Our taxes are ridiculously low. Our town is quickly becoming nothing more than development after development of cookie cutter, McMansion style houses. We lack thoughtfully planned out neighbourhoods, with a mix of commercial and residential spaces, where neighbours can interact with each other and merchants. There are very few "classy" neighbourhoods, with community oriented services. I feel as though the philosophy of our town has not evolved with the expansion in population. We should have very little desire to attract more residential development through conservative minded budgets. We should instead allow for a progressive philosophy, where taxes are raised appropriately, and people are not simply moving here for the sake of ease of commute. Overall very happy with services. I think Milton has done a good job promoting the behaviours they'd like to see and that would benefit our community. And I don't have a problem with parking. ;) Overall, I am happy with the services and programs provided by the Town of Milton. I would like to see more emphasis placed upon non-car transit infrastructure (public transit, bike lanes, pedestrian crossings) Perhaps creating programs that are low operation cost but increase Revenue. One basic example, there aren't many options for stay home moms with 2-4 year olds, other than swimming and gym stay-and-play (poor activity resource by the way). Moms are jamming the line up in front Early Years facilities; we could have something similar using a free gym space. In this case it's a parent supervised activity but the Organization provides quality resources and ideas, with a one person support staff. Many of our facilities have empty spaces during the day that could generate revenue. Please consider putting in more advanced greens at certain busy intersections (ex. Bronte and Main) and making others last longer (the light on Thompson and Main only lasts long enough for 2-3 cars during busy times). There are also many people who believe the town is fixing roads that do not require work while ignoring ones that are worn down and do require work. Laws about parking on the street also need to change. There is nowhere for people who have extra cars and small driveways to park during the night. Please take a look at this problem (maybe give households with single driveways a parking pass for an extra car to be able to park on the street at night?). If possible, the hospital parking needs a change as well; charging people to visit sick loved ones causes a lot of ill will towards the town amongst the community. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I sincerely hope the town takes all the comments submitted into consideration! The only way to make a city better is to listen to what the people living in it are saying. PLEASE ease the bottlenecks with [Mississauga]! Britannia road is a disaster with one lane that makes it [impossible]. This applies to Eglinton. Mature Trees must be planted in the new areas such as where the hospital is being finalized. Derry road west of road 25 for example looks so poor between road 25 and the hospital. Big trees must be considered. I am sure that you can ask tree [nurseries] to fund these projects while you can put small signs such as [landscaping] sponsored by, for example, Terra. Please keep in mind the crazy amount of traffic leaving Milton every day, the lack of jobs in Milton has resulted in the majority of people commuting every day; simply getting in and out of Milton can take minutes every day. We need more Milton jobs, or less people. Please look into environment friendly options wherever possible! That would be the best and most important thing for our children. please lower the taxes to rural residents because we are being treated extremely unfairly, we [receive] no service, nor want any, please give us back our levy. and please I hope you [didn t] waste money on this [ridiculous] survey as I'm sure all of the rural residents opinions will be outweighed by everybody else anyway. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 12

63 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Please maintain transit bus 62 in Campbellville and consider expanding the Guelph Line route to at least 15 [side road] and/or Brookville [Elementary] School area. Please provide better options than trade offs between property tax and development. Raising property tax is not the only way for development and services and that should be reflected in surveys like this Please stop pushing to have the lowest tax rate of any municipality! We need services that benefit everyone who lives here, not fame. Please work with business, provincial government and federal government to increase capital. more tax increases. Police and fire are large % of budget and thus taxes. I would recommend reducing these cost to the bare minimum until the town can see visible demand to increase. Any reduction could be used to fund other items Privatize a lot of the services; grass cutting, garbage pickup in public areas like pathways, Be more efficient using employees; it shouldn't take two people when one can do it. Do not repave roads just for the heck of it. Keep an eye on your employee break times Why does the fire department need to take the fire trucks to go for lunch? Why does the fire department need to use a fire dept. car to go grocery shopping? Put GPS's in each town vehicle, so you can keep track of what people are doing when at work. On your public transit, do not add any more big buses, the cost is too high and they are running around empty. I'm sure you can find more ways to cut costs in many depts. Property taxes are already high in Milton. The cost of water, gas and electricity is a burden on each home owner. Please keep that in mind and if you can't cut the taxes, at least don't increase it. Provide services for the disabled community. Have more affordable housing for people on low/fixed incomes Put a significant portion for trees. Trees are the kind of investment that must start NOW because they need time to grow. Their maturity sends a message about since when the town is mature. Look at Oakville where they add islands at many neighbourhood streets entrance and landscape it. Then look at Farmstead drive south of Derry! There is a significant project (hospital) and the entrance from Derry to Farmstead send you a message of poorness. What about mature trees there with few metres island of trees up until the workers [parking] entrance. Put some money in to keep our roads clean. A disaster with all this [construction] in some areas. Recreational maintenance should increase, cleanliness of public facilities. Road improvements on Ontario street, very bumpy.. Reduce development fees for small businesses. Reduce taxes and institute a tax matrix wherein you are taxed for services you use or [alternatively], receive a tax credit for services you don't use Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 13

64 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Reduce taxes. The town and region have been spending like drunken sailors. It is time to reign it in. With the higher population there is increased revenue. With increased density there is decreased expense. Property taxes should be reduced. Property tax should not increase at the rate of inflation AND the rate of property value increase... property tax should decrease as density increases. (Or why bother increasing density?) Please decrease the time spent in traffic in Halton. Increase speed limits, decrease lights, replace traffic lights with round [abouts], add lanes to highways, whatever it takes. But traffic gridlock in Halton is becoming unbearable. Reinstate Rural Tax rate, standardize tax rate across Town & rural has not been received well [due] to the significant differences / needs to each sector. Town buses route to Campbellville also a total waste of cash. Remove levy on rural owners for services they do not receive. Repairing several roads and putting in more pedestrian cross walks. Hiring [another] person for the traffic engineering department and investing into better shopping options to keep money in Milton. Revisit the decision to equalize rural taxes with in-town property Road infrastructure seems to be falling behind compared to development... roads should be expanded, widened, etc. Roads - at least the main roads like Derry must be expanded! Traffic and time for commuting is quite concerning Roads are priority anybody knows the type of commerce that this area has and is good for is attracted to and stay in areas that have lower costs of transport. If you keep allowing developers to have their way with town you will not be able to provide services at current levels and costs. How about increasing the bylaw enforcement budget and change the policy to actively enforce zoning, building business licensing etc, rather than just parking. These types of violations damage the value of the properties. If you are going to spend consider getting your own police force since HRP is underserving Milton, and has corruption/integrity issues with senior staff. Rural properties should not be expected to pay for services they do not receive. There should be a reduction in rural rates accordingly. Rural resident who feels we are unfairly paying as much as urban residents (50% currently soon to be equal to urban) for far less services. libraries no town recreational facilities. Feel completely isolated. Rural residents pay taxes like urban residents, yet receive much less services overall. This SHOULD be taken into consideration. Taxes [should] be focused to the more required items and some reductions on what is considered as [luxuries] within the budget. Rural services and road maintenance are abysmal. 911 services have taken over 40 minutes at recent traffic accidents. Tar and chip surfaces without centre lines are awful and have driven cyclists out of town. Snow clearing is at an all time low. Somehow we found money to fund a bunch of nice to have urban services though. value for my tax dollars. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 14

65 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] rural services are lacking in library, recreation programs, and economic development. transit should be continued. if we are at one tax rate, then these should be offered. Rural tax payers need a great deal more bang for their buck. Seeing as those in rural Milton have to pay the same taxes as those in Milton I think we should be given a lesser tax. Those in Milton have access to transit in many areas (Campbellville has three pilot stops only). Milton has more job opportunities and ease of access to areas such as grocery, leisure and parks, whereas those in Campbellville must drive or cycle a fair distance. Milton has pedestrian crosswalks (that light up!) and Campbellville barely has sidewalks. Those in Milton pay higher taxes so they can enjoy those benefits. If we, in Campbellville must pay the same taxes we expect something better from the town instead of just benefitting from our misfortune. We love our country life but the tax increase was an incredible insult and completely unfair to all country residents. Serious consideration has to be given to [infrastructure] spending. The transportation network and services has fallen way behind the growth demands. This can only be addressed through increased spending - and a greater than inflation increase in property taxes. It IS NOT a badge of honour that Milton has the lowest residential mill rate in the GTA - it is a disgrace. Services provided by the Town reflect the underfunding. Services for stray animals is absolutely atrocious. My family and I are very passionate about animals and have taken in numerous strays overnight, having to wait until the office is open in order to get someone to come and help us. Our neighborhood is becoming frequent with strays that need help getting off the street, and we're trying to help, but the towns services are so limited that it's exhausting. We need at least ONE dedicated on call person for after hours stray pick up. Hell, I'll do it for a decent wage. Snow removal is terrible especially in the new parts of Milton. The older parts of Milton are on asphalt while the newer roads can take many days for removal and then it is dumped frozen and completely iced up in our driveways several days later and during the night so that when we wake up we can have at least 2 to 3 feet of ice to remove. Wonderful! Solve the road congestion in this town before it becomes complete and total gridlock. The town has 100% failed to properly prepare for this growth and the traffic we have coming in and out of town. Secondly, vendors are allowed to take years to complete projects... causing years of frustration. some green space should be left as green space. building a condo between the leisure centre and library is actually kind of sad. Stop continually increasing user fees (pool or ice rentals for groups). These have been significantly and unfairly rising over the past few years. This has an impact on hockey and ice/pool group users who potentially will fold due to increase cost of usage time. Stop urban sprawl. Don't need continuing growth of a false economy building homes for well off immigrants. Take care of Canadians and Miltonians first. People can't even live here who work here because immigrants are lined up down the block at the model home buying 900k homes. Middle class Canadians are sick of this. Stop wasting tax $ and run your business like private enterprises Strengthen the Building Planning Department's input to better control; development. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 15

66 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Tax dollars should be invested to make Milton more efficient. I live in Campbellville, where I want the cost of service to be the least. I don't expect much service, all I want is roads that are fast to commute on, roads that are clear of snow in the winter, and good schools for my children. Widening the roads for cyclists would be nice, but the priority is to decrease commute times. Increase the speed limits. Reduce the commute times. Coordinate traffic lights. Lastly, install more round abouts and reduce traffic lights. (Traffic lights are very effective at making traffic) If you insist on buses/transit, at least have them pull off the highway when they stop to pick up a passenger. Having the bus-stop on the highway, and obstructing traffic is not desirable, as it obstructs and slows others. Municipal government should reduce spending and reduce taxes. Taxes are getting to the point where senior are not going to be able to stay in [their] homes as our income does not increase taxes are high enough!!! Thank you for soliciting feedback and giving the community a voice. This is very much appreciated. -Milton resident since 2008 The costs associated with living in Milton are already somewhat high and any additional costs, such as the tax increase, would have a large effect on living costs. The library should be open on Mondays so kids can get books for school projects etc. The number of kids swimming in a lane in the higher swimming levels should be reduced for safety reasons. These are big kids and 10 sharing a lane while swimming lengths is too many. Lawn cutting in public parks etc should continue to be frequent in order to help control the dandelions The majority of questions in this survey relate to urban issues, with minimal impact to rural residents. Traffic and road conditions are issues with common concerns, but little action for rural areas. Yes, speed limits were reduced, but without a police presence, few people have slowed down. ise has increased significantly. Racing cars and loud motorcycles are more than a nuisance at 2:30 in the morning; not stopping at stop signs is common and so are increased accidents due to high vegetation growth on the verges. We have asked the police to sit in our driveway and they responded quickly, but stayed no more than 10 minutes. Better signage might help, but as a resident of 20 Side Road, the increase in commuter traffic from Guelph is horrendous. It may be time to make all intersections in rural Milton 4 way stops. Yesterday there was a 3 car accident at 6th Line Nassagaweya and 20 Side Road. We get quite few serious collisions at this intersection. Maybe its time for some cameras and sound meters to monitor and record traffic and noise infractions because the police seem unavailable to rural issues. Maybe its time to impose weight restrictions on the roads. If the 401 is blocked, we get the overflow, including transport trucks. Better signage of the EDR and routes might help. We don't need to spend continuously on urban issues act the expense of your rural taxpayers. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 16

67 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] The needs of the rural area are different from the urban area. This survey does not reflect the needs of the rural area. The service levels in the rural area are far inferior to the urban area in every respect, from roads to recreation. It is more expensive to live in the rural area due to the lack of services received in the urban area--e.g. fire hydrants, etc. This should be reflected in the tax rate. It is unfair and unjust for the rural residents to pay the same tax rate as urban residents and not receive the same services. There is a fairer method of taxation for the rural area which Hamilton uses. The rural area pays for only services received. The questions are aimed for an urban population. We in Brookville, Moffat and Campbellville and, Rockwood, as our address dub us, are rural and the way the questions are asked does not reflect our situation or our needs from the 2018 budget. Low blow! The questions do not provide enough detail to answer properly. An overview of the [current] spending would have been helpful. The road maintenance during the winter is horrendous. In the two years that I have lived here, the road that I live on has only been plowed maybe 5 times total. I understand that I do not live on a main road, but I am near schools and a lot of children live in the area; it is very dangerous to be driving on these side roads when they have snow, slush, ice, and/or frozen slush in ruts covering all of the road surface. The road network is a nightmare and indicative of the poor planning that has allowed the growth to occur without upgrading the [infrastructure]. Increasing property taxes is the first step in beginning to catch up. As Gary Carr was quoted in the Champion this week "no money, no growth"... why has it taken 20 years to come to that realization and for our politicians to get out of the pockets of the developers? The Town could do a better job of attracting/responding to professionally skilled volunteers to help with initiatives without incurring additional costs like consultancy services. I have several professional degrees and have tried multiple times over the years to volunteer my skills on a municipal committee or advisory group and never even received a follow up response. With such a highly educated resident base, you'd think the town would be leveraging these opportunities. The town is growing and traffic coming on Derry and [Britannia] need to be addressed. The rush hour is bad now and will only get [worse]. Last [weekend] there were accidents on Derry Monday and Tuesday during rush hour. The Town is growing in population without any [noticeable] change in infrastructure. By the time you update the infrastructure it would need yet another update. There's a dire need to slow down the growth so we can catch up and be in sync. Lastly, my stickler, the CN logistics hub, there must be something you can do to prevent trucks from using the main areas cutting [through] the Town. The town needs to increase its funding for those with disabilities and special needs through improved programs rather than the plan to reduce it The Town needs to operate more like a city rather than a small town. Increase pay of frontline staff and consider hiring security at large facilities such as The Sports Centre. The Town needs to consider hiring more full time staff in these facilities in order to decrease money and time wasted on training due to turnover of part-time staff. Staff work very hard but do not appear to be supported appropriately by Town of Milton. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 17

68 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] The town's population is growing at an insane level. More houses, more cars, more people, more safety risks. The town's fire department is not where it needs to be. There needs to be more personnel and resources. Call volumes may be low now but in a matter of two years, we're going to be caught with our pants down and it'll be damn shame if we seriously injure or worse, kill some one, before we decide maybe we should have invested in our fire department. Proactive. t reactive. The transit service to Campbellville is a welcomed addition to the area. Please maintain this service There needs to be more resources put into supporting families dealing with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. I know people who have had to quit their job because the support is not there in the community to support their children. There should be more recreational facilities to chose from, for indoor functions or outdoor functions Think forward, think of the future. Your budget needs to make sense now, and 10 years from now. Think Green, think sustainable, leverage technology to your advantage. This does not have to do with the budget but I would happily give more money to make sure the cn transfer modal facility does not get built. even consider not connecting their facility to our roads or putting up blockades if they end up putting it through. this will ruin Milton and must be stopped! This survey was clearly designed to diffuse the actual issues facing us as taxpayers, which is the actual use of funds and its efficiency in using funds. Urban versus rural needs also differ greatly and are not addressed in this survey. It implies that without more money, things decrease, and with more they increase. This is simply not true. It provides no allowance for the many faucets that we actually face, for example roads, why are bike lanes and overall road design lumped in together with one question? Perhaps we feel as though one needs attention while the other does not. Our roads are no longer adequate for the volume facing us as residents, and I feel as though bike lanes are a waste of valuable money and space, unless there is a sticker fee for a bicycle such as the one I pay for my vehicles. Then they would be paying for a portion of what they use. It is hard to see how this survey really lets us "have our say" at all. Too much money is being spent on transit for a very limited number of riders. Totally unreasonable and inequitable that the Town removed the Rural Levy and has increased taxes paid by rural residents by the amount of the reduction (I think it was 11% but can't remember exactly) when policing is non-existent, snow removal is only for roads and not for sidewalks as we don't have any and other hidden costs are now shouldered onto rural residents. Town must plan for future long term growth Town should not use tax dollars to fund the hospital this should come from provincial tax money Traffic flow is horrendous in Milton. It is [definitely] an area that needs to be looked at. Transit budget should be reduced or cut significantly. The service is not used by the majority of people in Milton. Transit buses are generally empty, we are a bedroom community with most of us leaving the town on a daily basis, transit is not a priority for the vast majority, invest in road developments. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 18

69 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Transit is a major problem for Milton that needs more attention. More frequent GO train service is desperately needed although I understand the difficulty given CN ownership of the rail lines. However, parking at the GO station is a similar problem that the Town should address promptly. Local transit could be more effectively run if better routes were in place. Restructuring the local transit to be [more] effective should be considered. It makes no sense for all buses to go to the GO station although I understand there may be financial incentive for this routing. Looking at long term growth, better service to Mississauga and Oakville are needed. Another issue is to maintain park land as park land. The Town has designated parks and then sold off park property to land developers without thinking of the impact. This needs to be corrected promptly in a manner that sees the park space saved for park space. The Town has done a good job of attracting business to the education village and this mindset should continue with added support for later business development in the Town. Library services are important and need to be maintained or further improved. More facilities should be considered in newly developed areas and rural areas. Transit options and local job creation is the key to all our growth troubles. -Treat Campbellville/Moffatt/Brookville (Milton rural) equally to Milton urban when voting on policies -Don't expand on residential development without having a proper road infrastructure strategies in place Treat the rural areas fairly. Tax for services which are delivered. A further tax [increase] on top of the 20% hike is [irresponsible] government. I do not agree with the repeal of the tax levee for town residents. You have created a further division between rural and urban wards. Use the dedicated reserve funds for infrastructure rebuild as was originally set up for Water and dog bags at all dog parks. They are disgustingly filthy and there is no way you can clean up or get water for the dogs. Public health should create protocols for dog parks and advise people of health hazards, zoo noses, etc. Put some squash courts in community [centres]. We are spending on the wrong things - libraries, children's programs - when we really need to invest in basic infrastructure. We need less parking enforcement on residential streets. We were never ticketed for parking on our own street as kids, this is no more than a cash grab. Stop it. We need more train infrastructure, Milton station is the worst of entire line There are not enough parking, the store is closed at 9, there are no bathroom, all others in the corridor has also sealing and areas to cover from rain, snow or sun, if they don't do anything, let Milton invest, this is for Miltonians benefit We need rural representation and reallocation of taxes in rural Milton. We need sidewalks in rural Moffatt! We're an affluent community and want the level of service/ amenities that other communities have access to. If getting them means paying more taxes then let's just get on with it. This is not the Town of Milton of yesterday; it's the Town of a Milton of Have some foresight and clarity of thought. Councillors and vote for a tax increase. Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 19

70 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Why is "increase taxes to maintain services" an option on this survey in times of low inflation and interest rates? Why is not "maintain taxes to maintain services" an option? Is that not the goal of our current council? Is our council admitting that they cannot maintain current services with current tax revenues? If growth is the reason, should not that growth be funded by the developers profiting from the growth, and not current town residents? Why is it always increasing taxes to provide additional services? There is an option to be more efficient, get rid of waste and use that money to re-invest in the town. This is the reason, I am opposing any increase until you can prove that the municipality is operating efficiently. With house prices soaring, new entrants to the town are already reeling. Raising taxes will put a strain on an already cash strained populace. With the increased revenue from property taxes due to expansion and high density housing, property taxes should be DECREASING. I am astounded that the Halton Region Police spent $1.3 million on 3 vehicles. There are very few violent crimes in Halton. The police force and budget should be trimmed by 75%. Most of the work could be done by parking meter/bylaw infraction employees making $30K per year instead of $100+K per year. And the police cruisers. Really? They do not need to be $50K vehicles. But over $300K for a police vehicle!! The Canadian Armed Forces are forced to go to Afghanistan in golf carts, and our Halton Police are armed in vehicles worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect us from what? How about spending less and giving residents a break on their taxes. Sure, there might be speeding on the back roads and in rural areas. But it is only because the major arteries (like the 401) and transit (to where one works... NOT to where one goes to shop or exercise) are inadequate. Please spend tax dollars on reducing travel times for those of us who work. It used to take me 30 minutes to get to work. w it takes an hour and 30 minutes. I need more lanes on the 401. I need higher speed limits getting to the 401. I need higher speed limits on the 401. I need better alternatives to the 401 if it is jammed. I need a faster/cheaper 407. I need designated lanes of the 401 without slow moving transport trucks. But if you are not going to spend my tax dollars in a way that decreases my time to and from work, please reduce spending my tax dollars. body is speeding on the back roads because they want to. They are speeding on the back roads because the main highways are inadequate. Spending an hour and a half to travel 50kms is an average speed of 33.33km/hr. But some of the time I am doing 140km/hr, while at others I am doing 0 km/hr. Sure, maybe I should get up earlier (I think 5am is early enough) to give me more time to get to work (an hour and a half to go 50kms). Or perhaps, of the $100K I pay in tax, not including property tax, maybe I should be able to get to my place of employment in a reasonable amount of time. With the increased tax revenue the Town of Milton receives, the tax rate should be decreasing. What is the purpose of increasing density, if taxes increase? Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 20

71 Town of Milton Online Survey OPEN ENDED Question - Do you have any additional comments that you would like to be considered by Town staff in the preparation of the 2018 Budget. [OPEN] Would like to see roads improve from 4th line area to Oakville. And added left turn lanes on major streets. Bike safety improved. Have 2 young kids and safety is very important and improved services for youth as they get older to stay out of trouble. Would love to see more funding for local arts individuals and groups. The town should be more strict with animal license fees. Cats should require a licence too...some leg work to get those with pets registered would be beneficial.. once registered it should be placed on yearly taxes. We need more help for lost pets and increased help and features at dog parks would be an asset. Transit service specifically for go train hours would be wonderful. Thank you for all you do :) Yes, I do!!!! I live in Rural Milton and you know what I am going to complain about...our tax rates being increased to match those in the town of Milton... yes we have mail service and our garbage is picked up, you clear our road of snow! but no, we don't have water, sewage, street lights, sidewalks, a decent road, no access to the bus (unless I drive to it) and NO MAINTENANCE to the town property along the road - broken tree branches, scrubby undergrowth...looks like something out of a horror movie...but in town, say Tremaine...4 lanes, sidewalks, benches, lights, manicured property on both sides!!! Yes, I am annoyed. You can get funds from business owners not from home owners by increasing property tax You have increased our property tax by 64% in the ten years my wife and I have lived in our rural house on Guelph line. Enough is enough...the cost of expanding the town of [Milton s] services should not be placed on the backs of people who are not interested in living there. Let the people who want to live like sardines in a can pay for the services that are required to support their "dream" lifestyle in Milton... You have waited to long to upgrade roads. The growth in housing means more taxes [revenue] so that means more money coming in.you have all ready farmed services to cut costs! You keep creating new houses, however we [don t] have the roads to support the increased traffic flow. Derry and other major roads are a disaster and it continues to get worse each year. you will already see an increase in tax revenue to the huge increase from MPAC assessment I don't understand why taxes would need to be increased that much as people will be paying more just from higher assessments alone Nanos conducted an online survey of 617 residents of the Town of Milton through an open link from May 30 th to June 19 th, This is a self-selected and not a probability survey, therefore no margin of error applies. Page 21