128 | Business World Magazine |
April 2014
“In 10 years, we will be fully caught up
and at a point of reaching the sustainable lev-
els,” he said.
A 10-year financial plan was approved
by the city council that includes an average
7 percent annual water rate increase to fund
the remaining projects. It’s a big pill to swal-
low, Elliott conceded, by a far smaller one
than it would have been had the reactive ap-
proach continued.
“If we hadn’t been able to identify the
backlog and know what we truly had, there’s
no way we could have forecast what would
be sustainable,” he said. “That’s the magic be-
hind the cloak here. Having that knowledge
makes it possible for us to plan, to sell the
idea to the ratepayers and the council to get
the money we need. And we need a lot of
money.”
Toward that end, past provincial legisla-
tion is becoming an asset.
Because Ontario law mandates that mu-
nicipalities must establish improvement
plans and must work toward a point of sus-
tainability, those responsible for making the
repairs can go to the city government and
not have to plead their case for getting the
work done.
“We can go to council and say this is not
really an option,” Elliott said. “This is basi-
George Elliot
Yogesh Shah
