2016-03-04 Warden Tom Bain 9th Annual Warden's Luncheon speech

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3 I believe Essex County and its municipalities have hit the mark on all three accounts. First and foremost, I am proud to say Essex County has its financial house in order. Standard and Poor's, the Corporation's Bond Rating Agency has reaffirmed the County's credit rating at AA with a stable outlook. In arriving at this conclusion, Standards and Poor's highlighted the County's strong financial position, no debt, long-standing life cycle capital replacement program and "pay-as-you-go" philosophy for funding capital and infrastructure requirements. At the recent Good Roads Conference, EKOS Research presented data indicating that Canadians strongly supported infrastructure becoming a heightened spending priority for all levels of government. This same study concluded that good roads and bridges were considered twice as important in rural and small urban centres as they were in large urban areas. Allocations in the 2016 County budget were in synch with this thinking — nearly $40M has been earmarked this year to provide for the expansion, reconstruction, rehabilitation and maintenance of the County Road Network. The current Provincial funding regime for new hospital construction requires a 10% local contribution. For the proposed new Windsor Essex Health System, which includes a new acute care hospital, an urgent care centre on the former Grace site, redevelopment at the Ouellette site to support mental health services and construction of new acute mental health care beds at the Prince Road campus, the local share is estimated to total $200M. County and City Councils have both passed resolutions committing to jointly fund the required contribution. Although timing of the local remittance and the determination of the County's proportional portion remains outstanding, beginning in 2016, County Council has embarked upon a managed program for raising the necessary funds. Over the past 15 years, CPI has increased, on average, 1.9% per year. Over the same time, County tax rate increases have averaged 1.2% per year. For 15 years running, County tax rate increases have averaged 0.7% LESS than the rate of inflation, all the while planning for $440M in County Road network expansion, $72M in Active Transportation facility construction, the County's share of new hospital construction, increased levels of care for 206 frail, elderly residents at Sun Parlor Home, responding to well over 50,000 emergency EMS calls and transforming service delivery at 14 County Library branches. I humbly and respectfully submit that Essex County continues to meet the challenges of today, while planning for the future in a fiscally responsible and prudent manner. However, having a sound foundation merely sets the stage for transformational change. It is how we leverage these conditions and resources that will drive prosperity across our region. We must collectively collaborate, cooperate and innovate to flourish and thrive.