Affordability in East Gwillimbury: Taxpayers, Property Tax Rates, Permit Fees, Affordable Housing

Affordability is the most urgent economic reality facing families, seniors, and young people in East Gwillimbury right now. It deserves more than lip service during a campaign.

This election, you’re going to hear a lot of promises. Look closely at my opponent’s platform, and you’ll find something in it for nearly every special interest group in this community: a commitment here, an initiative there, a program for everyone who shows up asking. It reads well on a page.

Here’s my concern: none of it is free. Every promise made through campaign stunts, on a brochure, or in social media posts eventually shows up on a tax bill, and I haven’t heard a credible answer from my opponent on how taxpayers are expected to pay for all of it, other than by increasing your taxes.

East Gwillimbury must remain a place where people of all ages and incomes can afford to live, raise a family, and put down roots. That means responsible fiscal management at town hall, smart infrastructure investment, and advocating loudly at every level of government for the support our residents need. It also means keeping a close eye on what growth costs the people already in EG.

My Common-Sense Platform is deliberately fiscally responsible. My platform is affordable and disciplined, and these are the kind of commitments I can keep without putting East Gwillimbury’s finances at risk and increasing the tax burden on our residents. That’s pragmatism. It’s respect for the people who’ll be asked to pay for it.

Every tax dollar is your dollar, and as Mayor, I will treat it with the respect it deserves!

Taking the Pressure Off the Taxpayers

Here’s a principle I’ll defend every time: Growth Pays for Growth. Developers, not residents, should bear the cost of infrastructure for new subdivisions. I will champion this at every meeting, every vote, every decision. Your property taxes are not a developer’s subsidy! As Mayor, I will not be a head waiter to the development industry. Let’s build a town that grows on our terms, for the people who already call it home and for future generations. That’s Responsible Growth!

Relying too heavily on residential property taxes isn’t a funding model; it’s a pressure valve. Right now, 90% of East Gwillimbury’s tax base is residential. That means we are carrying the weight of this town on our shoulders. It limits our ability to invest in critical services and exposes residents to the full brunt of economic volatility. The answer is a balanced mix of commercial, industrial, and institutional development that generates local jobs and stable long-term revenue, funding the roads, transit, and emergency services East Gwillimbury deserves without perpetually raising residential taxes.

As a councillor, I’ve been relentlessly advocating to strengthen our Economic Development for the past 8 years; as Mayor, my commitment is to shift the tax burden towards commercial, industrial and institutional development.

More Revenue to EG. Less Cost to Residents. That’s not ideology. That’s arithmetic.

Property Taxes: A Line I Won’t Cross

We are fortunate that East Gwillimbury is one of the few municipalities in the GTA that has healthy reserves and zero debt. This keeps pressure off property taxes. As Mayor, I will build on this foundation and commit to you, without hesitation, to continue to protect EG’s position as having the lowest relative property taxes in York Region.

That’s not a slogan; it’s fiscal discipline. It means spending every dollar with the same scrutiny I’ve applied throughout a career in financial oversight and risk management: protecting taxpayers while still investing in what our growing town actually needs, and providing cost-effective services for EG residents.

I’ll bring my private-sector pragmatism to EG, backed by over 20 years of experience in leadership roles. My Common-Sense Plan is simple. It will focus on People, Programs, and Processes:

People: I’ll conduct an organizational review to make sure we have the right people in the right roles. When everyone’s rowing in the same direction, the organization runs better.
Programs: I’ll review every program and service across the municipality to make sure it’s meeting taxpayers’ needs. If it isn’t, we cut it!
Processes: I’ll implement a results-based review of East Gwillimbury operations focused on real efficiency gains that protect taxpayers and improve programs and services. As a Councillor, I’ve seen it firsthand, too many applications pass through too many hands before a decision gets made. As Mayor, that will stop!

As Mayor and your representative on York Region Council, I will also fight to keep their tax rates low as well. Regional taxes make up 42% of your tax bill. I will be a strong, loud voice at the Regional Council table to make sure we get our fair share!

All of this will come with accountability. My pragmatic approach will be measured to ensure we are moving in the right direction and shared with the public.

Permit Fees Shouldn’t Punish People for Doing the Right Thing

Look at our permit fee structures, and you’ll find small charges that add up to a bigger problem. Our recent Tree Bylaw got this right; it introduced zero-fee permits. Now we need to apply that same philosophy elsewhere: to dog licences, to fire burn permits, to the small home repairs that shouldn’t require their own budget line.

A nominal fee that discourages a resident from doing the right thing isn’t revenue. It’s an obstacle. We can, and should, do better, reducing or waiving fees for the essential, everyday permits that keep East Gwillimbury safe and our residents in good standing, not out of pocket.

Affordable Housing: This One Isn’t Abstract for Me

There’s a number that should stop you cold: the average age of a first-time home buyer in Canada is closing in on forty. Ten years ago, it was thirty-six. We are going in the wrong direction, and every family in East Gwillimbury feels it, whether it’s a young person watching homeownership drift out of reach, or a senior on a fixed income watching every line item on a bill get a little heavier.

But I’ll tell you why attainable housing matters to me personally. I have a thirty-four-year-old daughter who has a good job but can’t afford to buy her own home. This isn’t a talking point. Homeownership is the foundation of economic security for the next generation, and we are watching it slip further out of reach for our children, year after year. If we don’t tackle it now, we all pay for it eventually, through a town our own kids can’t afford to stay in.

The disparity between what households earn here and what it costs to buy or rent a home has widened for years, and no single level of government is going to close that gap on its own. It has to be a coordinated effort. In our new Official Plan, once approved by the province, it will permit Additional Residential Units, allowing for basement apartments, laneway houses, and coach houses. As Mayor, I will explore ways to encourage adoption of these in areas that make sense, alongside a genuine mix of housing units across price points, so that a nurse, a tradesperson, and a young family all have a realistic path to a home in this town.

As Mayor, I’ll work with the development community so that future projects include a portion of housing units that are genuinely attainable for local households, not just priced for the regional market. And I’ll advocate, loudly and consistently, at the provincial and federal level for the funding tools and program support that make affordable housing construction possible at the municipal level. This is a key priority for me, not a talking point tucked at the bottom of a platform.

Affordable housing policy touches the province, the federal government, and the development community, and real progress means working across all of them, which is exactly why it has to be done across party lines, not through it.

Our EG Libraries: Affordability Hiding in Plain Sight

If you haven’t walked into one of our three public libraries recently, do yourself a favour. It has changed. It’s one of the most underrated affordability tools this town has, and most residents don’t even realize the full extent of it.

It’s not just books anymore. It’s Power Tools. Audiobooks. Movies. 3D Printers and Laser Cutters. Ontario Parks Permits. Sporting Equipment. Free Computer Access. Resources that would otherwise cost real money, available to every resident simply because they live here. I want to work with the library to expand that lending offering even further, because libraries aren’t a nice-to-have. They’re affordability infrastructure!

Affordability Is More Than a Tax Bill

Affordability also means improving access to local jobs, transit, and services, so residents spend less time commuting and more time living their lives in EG. A reduced commute also means more time with your family. As Mayor, I will find new ways to keep recreation fees low and expand subsidized membership access, so a family’s income doesn’t determine whether their kids can play a sport or learn to swim. And that seniors have access to affordable recreation programming.

As Mayor and your representative on the Regional Council, I will also fight for greater transit options for EG residents of all ages. More transit options that connect EG residents seamlessly with regional links will create more opportunities for people to work closer to home, for teens getting to part-time jobs, and for seniors getting to medical appointments.

Affordability: Where I Stand

East Gwillimbury should be a place anyone can afford to stay, not just afford to visit, or afford to leave. I have the experience and integrity to understand both the limits of the job and the real leverage it holds, and I will use every bit of that influence to keep East Gwillimbury a place our children can still afford to call home.

My commitments:

Protecting EG’s healthy reserves and our position as having the lowest relative property taxes in York Region.
A pragmatic approach to reviewing the EG’s programs, processes and staffing with the purpose to find savings and cost effectiveness.
Responsible Growth: Growth pays for growth; developers, not residents, bear the cost of development, and development charges are structured to fund infrastructure fairly without needlessly inflating the cost of a home.
Economic Development: Focus on taking the pressure off the residential tax base.
Reducing or waiving fees for essential permits, so small repairs and everyday responsibilities don’t require a budget line.
Insisting that York Region expand meaningful transit options for our residents.
Keeping recreation fees low, access to affordable recreation programming, and expanding subsidized membership access.
Working with our library to expand its lending offerings, because libraries are affordability infrastructure.
Working with the province, federal government, and development industry to expand truly attainable housing units across household income levels.

Affordability isn’t just what shows up on your tax bill once a year; it’s the sum of everything a household spends to live here: utilities, transportation, recreation, and the everyday services that keep a family running. A resident who saves a hundred dollars on property tax but loses that same amount and more to a longer commute, a pricier permit, or a costlier rec program hasn’t actually gotten ahead.

That’s why I look at affordability as a full picture, not a single line item. Every decision at the council table, whether it’s a permit fee, a transit route, or a new development, has a real cost of living attached to it for the people who call East Gwillimbury home. If we’re serious about keeping East Gwillimbury affordable, we have to weigh all of it, not just the number on the tax notice.

Affordability, Responsible Growth, Community Safety, and Economic Development aren’t competing priorities. They’re the foundation for a strong, prosperous East Gwillimbury community, and we must deliver all four!

As a sixth-generation EG resident, as Mayor, I will continue to build a community that grows on our terms, for the people who already call it home and for future generations.

That’s what I’m fighting to protect!