“The taxpayers are writing a cheque every year to both of those agencies, but we have no direct control,” he said.

“Those agencies are going to have to figure out how they will either absorb these cuts moving forward, determine what service levels are going to be required, what efficiencies may be found, et cetera and so on.”

Listening to @fordnation at @AMOPolicy conference today. Some good news, yet some clarity needed based on his speech today. Hoping for more collaboration and communication moving forward. #Guelph #LUMCO pic.twitter.com/pugnNbttRf — Mayor Cam Guthrie (@CamGuthrie) August 19, 2019

In an emailed statement to the Mercury Tribune, Luisa Artuso, director of the county’s children’s early years division, said more information is needed before knowing how much of an impact this funding change will have.

“Until we receive details from the ministry, we will not have adequate information to understand the impact to our child care system and to plan for services effectively,” Artuso said.

“We encourage the ministry to provide details of this announcement as soon as possible so we can begin to plan effectively.”

Guthrie sits on the county’s social services committee as a non-voting member, while councillors Christine Billings, June Hofland and Rodrigo Goller sit on WDG Public Health’s board.

There are 14 seats on the WDG Public Health board, although one seat — a provincial appointee to represent the City of Guelph — is currently vacant.

Cuts to provincial spending for municipalities had originally been part of the Ford government’s 2019 budget, after most municipalities had approved their own budgets. In April, Guthrie, in his role as the head of the Large Urban Mayors Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO), called on those cuts to be held off, saying doing so retroactively could lead to tax hikes and service cuts.

The next month, after Premier Doug Ford called on municipalities to find four per cent in savings to cover these additional costs, Guthrie said that would cost Guelph $19 million.

Later that month, the premier announced those cuts would be put on hold.

@CamGuthrie and other Mayors of large Ontario municipalities met w @celliottability to gain clarity on changes to public health and paramedic funding this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/S7f6LXKxwL — Dominique ORourke (@orourke_ward6) August 19, 2019

Transitional, temporary

The announcement from the provincial government came as Ford was speaking at the annual conference. While he did not directly address the new costs municipalities were having to cover, he did say that transitional funding would be coming for 2020.

With few details on how exactly this transition funding would work, Guthrie said he was left with more questions than answers.

“We need a lot more clarity because there wasn’t any given around how this transitional funding would work and take place,” he said.

With additional cuts being delayed until future years, such as administrative child care costs being pushed to 2021, Guthrie says this is just lengthening the wick on a candle that is already burning.

“It’s not permanent, which means the impacts of these cuts — whether it be a burden threshold of 10 per cent or 20 or 30 per cent — will still be fully implemented by 2021,” he said.

“Those are going to be real impacts to the citizens of Guelph.”

Another problem facing Guelph, and other Ontario municipalities, is that they have already started their budget processes. Guelph is set to have its first council meetings on 2020’s spending plans in October.

“There is some scrambling to try to determine exactly what these impacts are going to be and how they’re going to roll out,” he said.

“The common thread amongst all the municipalities is that we are going to absorb these cuts in some way or another, whether it be a little bit in 2020 or a lot more in 2021.”

In a news release issued Monday, Guthrie, in his role as LUMCO chair, said that in June he offered a subcommittee of the group’s mayors to meet with the province ahead of next year’s municipal budgets.

The premier’s office did not respond.

“Last week we sent a second letter, indicating we still haven’t heard from him,” Guthrie said, adding he intends to bring this up with the provincial ministers he will be meeting in Ottawa.

“We have a very willing partner in LUMCO, wanting to sit on one side of the table and work collaboratively with the government,” he said.

“We would much rather not find out about changes that are coming down to municipalities in speeches or at conferences or through the press.”

Additional spending on the way

While the provincial government’s announcement Monday saw additional municipal spending on the horizon, it also announced some additional spending of its own.

Ford said provincial funding for ambulance services will increase almost four per cent this year, followed by another increase in 2021.

As well, the province says it will open up another stream of infrastructure funding next month.

Starting Sept. 3, municipalities will be able to apply for funding under the community, culture and recreation stream of the Canada Infrastructure program. The province then nominates those projects for federal infrastructure funding, with those two levels of government bearing the majority of the costs for successful nominees.

This new stream of the program will cover projects such as community centres, sports arenas and cultural centres.

“There are two major projects in Guelph that are in the front of my mind — the south end rec centre and the Baker Street redevelopment, which would include the library,” Guthrie said.

Last week, the province announced five Guelph projects — with a total value of more than $170 million — had been nominated for the transit stream of the infrastructure program.