Spring Newsletter, 2025
Welcome to our Spring update. There are a number of issues affecting Bayfield and your BRA is actively monitoring and working to represent your interests.
A review of the STR bylaw was presented by Municipal staff to Council in January. In that review, it clarified that Bed and Breakfasts do not fall under the STR bylaw and do not require a STR license.
Also the Municipality recommended that the 15% limit on STRs per street be removed, as it was causing too much work for staff answering queries. Your BRA lobbied against such a change as it had done previously. We recommended that the 15% limit was necessary to maintain a good balance between rental properties and permanent residents. We also recommended the query issue could be addressed by creating a public website identifying the locations of all STRs and/or requiring the posting of the STR license in a visible location at each STR.
The recommendation to remove the 15% limit was rejected by Council and the 15% limit per street remains in force.
Subsequently the real estate agent from London that had previously lobbied against the 15% limit again raised the issued and suggested having such a limit was illegal. Council again rejected any change.
Recently, Tiny Township, in Simcoe County, won a court case against the Tiny Township Association of Responsible STR Owners request to repeal STR bylaws. The STR owners were trying to have STR regulations and restrictions removed. This sets an obvious precedent for having reasonable regulations and restrictions implemented lawfully by municipalities based on detailed investigation of the issues with community feedback.
Township mayor 'grateful' after Ontario court upholds STR bylaw - Orillia News
The 2025 Budget was passed by council, resulting in our Bluewater property taxes increasing by 5.34%.
2025 Net Operating Budget
| 2024 Budget | 2025 Budget | Budget Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal Levy | $8,519,637 | $8,880,273 | $361,636 | (4.25%) |
| OPP Levy | $1,507,544 | $1,782,914 | $275,370 | (18.27%) |
| Assessment Growth | $10,026,181 | $10,663,187 | $637,006 | (6.35%) |
| Operating Budget Increase After Growth | $535,389 | (5.34%) |
This will result in an estimated increase of Bluewater taxes for common properties of:
- $88 per year for an average single family home, based on average value of $266,000.
- $126 per year for a seasonal recreational dwelling, based on average value of $383,000.
- $52 per year for small retail commercial properties, based on average value of $142,000
- $104 per year for farm land based on average value of$1,223,200.
Note: Above increase in taxes are for Bluewater portion only, excluding County, School Boards, street light rates, wheelie bin charges, and local improvement charges. For every dollar collected in taxes, the Federal government gets 47 cents, the Province of Ontario gets 44 cents, and Ontario municipalities get only 9 cents, while owning the majority of infrastructure assets in the province.
The Top allocations in the $10,663,187 Operating Budget were:
- Roads and Bridges Consolidated – $ 3,694,316 (34.65%)
- Fire Department - $1,558,089 (14.61%)
- Facilities including parks and programs - $2,315,506 (21.71%)
| Tax Levy Supported | Approved Budget | Grants | Debt | Vibrancy | Reserve Fund | Total Funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Government | $35,000 | $35,000 | $35,000 | |||
| Fire | $618,181 | $50,000 | $400,000 | $168,181 | $628,181 | |
| Roads | $3,028,000 | $2,061,500 | $966,500 | $3,028,000 | ||
| Fleet | $537,500 | $202,500 | $355,000 | $537,500 | ||
| Landfill | $440,000 | $440,000 | $440,000 | |||
| Facilities & Parks | $460,000 | $214,122 | $245,878 | $460,000 | ||
| Streetlights | $30,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 | |||
| Total Tax Levy Capital Request | $5,148,681 | $2,111,500 | $816,622 | $2,220,559 | $5,148,681 | |
| User Fee Supported | ||||||
| Water | $387,000 | $387,000 | $387,000 | |||
| Sewer | $290,000 | $290,000 | $290,000 | |||
| Total User Fee Supported | $677,000 | $2,111,500 | $677,000 | $677,000 | ||
| Combined 2025 Capital Request | $5,825,681 | $816,622 | 2,897,559 | $5,825,681 |
As part of the current Private, Public Partnership (PPP) between the Municipality and BFIT, BFIT is required to develop a plan for expanding the existing community centre.
A committee has been formed which includes the BRA, Bayfield Lions, BFIT and the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce. The initial step of the committee was to run a needs survey in the Bayfield Breeze for several weeks last year to determine what the community is looking for. The results of the survey are in the chart below.
| Answer | Responses | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Gymnasium | 91 | 22% |
| Pickleball | 88 | 21% |
| Meeting Rooms | 84 | 20% |
| New Change Rooms | 55 | 13% |
| Daycare | 44 | 11% |
| Other | 55 | 13% |
Other consisted of fitness room, Foodbank space, doctor’s office, indoor pool, walking track, steam room
Lions Home and Garden Show April 26, 27
Your BRA will be at the Lions Home Show. Look for us on the upper level. This will be a chance to discuss any local issues you have and to renew your membership.
Annual General Meeting August 2, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. in the Community Centre
This year we are combining our Spring and Annual meeting into one meeting on August 2, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. in the Bayfield Community Centre. We would like to have a guest speaker and are looking for ideas from our members as to a topic for the presentation or a potential guest speaker. We welcome your ideas by replying to this newsletter.
We will be looking to add new members to our Board of Directors and would welcome anyone who would like to volunteer and join the board.
We would like to thank all of our members for their ongoing support.
We wish you and your families a wonderful spring and look forward to representing your interests on issues impacting Bayfield.
If you are not already a BRA member, we encourage you to join. Please see our website at www.bayfieldratepayers.ca and become part of supporting how your tax dollars are spent.
Board of Directors
Bayfield Ratepayers Association