Welland mayor calls 2023 transit tax 'unacceptable'

Mayor Frank Campion says it's "unacceptable" to expect Welland to pay a 31 percent increase for Niagara Regional Transit. 

“On several occasions, we asked for updates on the proposed financial model and capital costs, because we wanted to ensure we knew the impact on the Welland taxpayer,” said Campion. “As a council, we have always supported the integration of a consolidated transit system, but an increase to the Welland taxpayer by 30 percent is unacceptable and does not reflect what was proposed during the triple majority vote.”

Welland council received a staff report at their special council meeting on Jan. 25, outlining the impact of the regional transit levy on Welland taxpayers based on NRT’s proposed budget, a news release stated. In the Welland staff report, an estimated 31 percent increase in 2023 over 2022 is presented; an increase derived from the NRT proposed 2023 budget.

The methodology approved during the triple majority vote to allocate local net transit costs and incremental capital was these costs were to be apportioned based on the proportion of service hours. However, during the development of the proposed 2023 budget by the NTC, two new allocation methods were introduced: a municipal direct allocation and the one-time special levy, the release added.

The budget identifies a levy of $5,699,974 assessed against St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, and Welland ($1,275,000). This levy is tied to the lower-tier municipalities’ utilization of gas tax funding and safe restart funding in 2022 operating budgets to offset fare box revenue losses due to COVID-19.

The budget also identifies a one-time special levy of $1,931,540 assessed against St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, and Welland ($287,767). The levy is related to future post-retirement benefits for existing transit employees, which would be placed into a reserve fund in 2023 for future use.