2022 Municipal Election

What do I need to vote? What if I didn't register?

To vote, you will need your voter information letter.  This will arrive in the mail in early October and has instructions on how online/telephone voting works.  If you don’t get a letter or are not on the voters’ list, please come to the Town Hall at anytime between now and October 24th.  During the week of October 17th, you can also go to the Library for voting related assistance.  Lastly, on October 24th there will be an additional voter help centre at the arena.  All voter help centers will have enumeration capability.

How and when can I vote by telephone?

You can vote by telephone starting on October 17th at 8:00 am up until 8:00 p.m. on Monday, October 24th, 24/7.  Instructions on telephone voting can be found in the voter information letter.  Staff at the Town Hall can also assist if needed.

What can I do if I want to vote in-person?

If you’d prefer to vote in person, you can come to the Town Hall or Library during regular hours the week of October 17th.  On the 24th the Arena will also be an in-person voting option.  Computers will be available at each of these locations for you to use to vote. 

Info about staff visiting senior’s residences

Staff will be visiting each of the long term care residences during the week of October 17th.  Arrangements have been made with each of the residences.

• Stoneridge – Tuesday Oct. 18th from 10 to 11:30
• CP Terrace – Wednesday Oct. 19th from 10 to 11:30
• Riverview – Thursday Oct. 20th  from 9:30 to 10:30
• Waterside – Friday Oct. 21st from 9:30 to 10:30

Staff will be on location until the residents are finished voting.

To run for municipal office you must be nominated and qualify.

To be a qualified candidate you must be:

• a Canadian Citizen; and
• at least 18 years old; and
• reside in the Town of Carleton Place or be the owner or tenant of land in the Town of Carleton Place, or the spouse of an owner or tenant of land in the Town of Carleton Place.

• Third Party Advertisers Guide
• Notice of Registration - Third Party - Form 7

• Municipal Elections Act
• Municipal Act
• Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing - Candidates' Guide
• Association of Municipalities of Ontario - Lead From Where you Live
• By-Law 56-2018 Election Sign By-law
• Elections Sign Policy on Provincial Roads
• Election Accessibility Plan
• e-Vote Common Questions
• AMO's Guide to Running for Municipal Election
• 2022 Lanark County Clerks Elections Manual
• 2022 Candidates and Third Party Advertiser Information Session
• Municipal Property Assessment Corporation - Property Taxation & Assessment 101 Video

The next Ontario municipal and school board elections are October 24, 2022. If you are a resident, owner or tenant of property in Ontario, a Canadian citizen and 18 years of age or older election day, you can vote.

We all play a role in ensuring a fair electoral system, and it is the responsibility of every elector to make sure their information is up-to-date and accurately reflected for electoral purposes. By logging into voterlookup.ca, eligible electors can:

• confirm or update their electoral information;
• add an elector name to an address; and,
• change school support for the purpose of voting in a school board election.

This site is owned and managed by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), responsible for identifying all potential municipal, school board and District Social Services Administration Board electors. MPAC provides this information to election clerks in support of local election events. VoterLookup.ca is also used to collect the names of all occupants in a household. This information is collected by MPAC and provided to municipalities and school boards to assist with planning purposes.

View MPAC's document which explains their role in Municipal and School Board Elections.

Q1: Is there a document describing what proportion of development fees for certain long-term projects have already been collected? I would like to know what proportion of funds for projects such as the Water/Wastewater Treatment Plants, but also the Cavanagh Road widening and any other large long-term DC-funded project.

A1: Please see page 23 of the Town’s Audited Financial Statements and/or the 2021 Development Charges Report on the Town’s website which are both on the following page:  https://carletonplace.ca/taxesp95.php

Q2: Is there a document describing how the water/wastewater levy is determined, and more specifically how that money is spent. I was looking for something similar to the year-end tax/budget document that breaks down income and expenses, but noticed that it excludes water/wastewater.

A2: We do budget separately for water and sewer.  I have attached the two reports to Council for the 2022 budget deliberations as well as the presentation given to the public.  The Town is also required to create a Water/Wastewater Licencing Financial Plan every 5 years.  This plan was last approved in 2020 and can be found on the Town’s website at https://carletonplace.ca/taxesp95.php

Q3: I have often heard new expenses (for example, the CIP) talked about in terms of a "1% increase in taxes". However it's my understanding that the tax base for the Town has consistently grown by several percent per year over the last few years (please correct me if I'm wrong about this!), and therefore that any particular new expense might not actually lead to an increase in taxes. Am I correct in this assessment? 

A3: We tend to reference the value of a 1% tax increase when discussing initiatives in order to provide context to Council and the public. 

You are correct that the Town has benefited from growth in its tax assessment base for many years.  These additional taxes are used to fund the increased level of services provided as a result of growth even without requiring a rate increase for all taxpayers.  For example for 2022 we were able to collect an additional $371,000 or 3.1% from new properties added to the tax roll without impacting current ratepayers.  This additional funding is generally used to provide the same level of services for new taxpayers that current taxpayers enjoy.  For example,  items like waste collection fees that increase directly as a result of the increase in the number of stops needed, or for additional staff to accommodate new snowplowing routes.  Growth however does not create enough funding for new programs like the CIP.  In order to fund them, the Town either needs to increase the tax rate or user fees for all taxpayers (old and new) and/or reduce other services.

Q4: In general, how does Staff arrive at a budget each year? I'm curious about how Staff achieve such a stable budget considering how disparate and large some of the items in any given year may be, especially considering they span multiple departments.

A4: Each year staff propose a 10-year capital plan and indicate how that plan will be funded.  In the summer staff work on operating budget estimates and proposed changes to the capital plan.  The senior management team reviews these requests as a group and identifies potential savings and/or cuts.  Each department reviews their operating and capital plans with Council in detail during a full-day(s) budget meeting usually in November however during an election year this will occur in January.  During this meeting Council identifies any additions and/or cuts.  The revised plan is presented to the public for comment and then a report comes back to Council for final approval.  The goal of any budget process at the Town is to keep rate increases to minimum while allowing for consistent service provision.

Staff work very hard to ensure that we maximize other funding opportunities such as development charges or grants to avoid the need for tax and/or rate increases.  We have been very successful obtaining grant funding over the last 4 years in excess of $10 million.  We are also constantly identifying cost saving opportunities and efficiencies.  Just from my department over the last 4 years we have implemented several new processes that save staff time so that additional staff are not required even though the volume of work has increased.  Some of them include; voice over IP telephone services, emailing tax and water bills, electronic time and attendance processes, uploading payments received from the bank rather than keying in each payment, and most recently Virtual Town Hall which allows residents to view, print and pay their bills online.

In terms of maintaining our infrastructure, the Town has been expanding its Asset Management capabilities.  This enables us to have a clear picture of the funding that will be required over the next 10 years and assists with ensuring that we are following industry best practices and maximizing the life of our assets.  Our current plan can be found on our website at the bottom of page https://carletonplace.ca/taxesp95.php

Q5: Would you please provide information regarding the Speed study that covered Coleman Street?

A5: Formal complaints about operations can be made by contacting our Detachment Commander Inspector Karuna Padiachi at karuna.padiachi@opp.ca. Coleman Street is patrolled by our officers on a regular, if not daily, basis. Our data from the Black Cat Speed Spy, Collision Reports, public complaints and officer’s observations indicate that there is not a significant speeding or safety concern at this location at the present time. We continue to patrol and conduct moving and stationary radar in this area. I have advised our officers about concerns and we will continue to include Coleman Street and the new crosswalk in our regular patrols. We have conducted and are planning further initiatives that target vehicles that are creating excessive noise, modifying their mufflers illegally or failing to maintain complete and properly functioning exhaust system. See below for a copy of a recent speed enforcement evaluator overview completed by our data management unit.

The OPP speed spy radar equipment was also placed on Coleman Street eastbound at the intersection of McGregor Street from September 15th to September 19th in 2020 with similar results.  The average speed of all vehicles during this period was 49 km/h with 85% of drivers driving 57km/h or less.  Of the 2869 vehicles captured during the survey, only 188 exceeded 60 km/h.  Based on the two eastbound lane configuration present at this intersection, the results were considered good and did not reflect a serious speeding concern at this location.  Additional measures were therefore not warranted.

Q6: Can you describe the process for the Town purchasing private property, specifically land? (For clarity, I'm not talking about annexing land from adjacent municipalities, but outright acquiring property from within the existing Town boundary). Is there some sort of right of first refusal? Which properties are currently owned by the Town?

A6: Please refer to the Town’s Sale of Land By-law.

Q7: Could you provide information about the two County-managed affordable housing properties in Town (Elizabeth Court, 7 Arthur St). What was the Town's role in the creation of these developments? For example, with respect to determining location, securing property etc. What role does the County play at Elizabeth Court?

A7 - Provided by Emily Hollington, Director of Social Service for Lanark County - The Town’s involvement of the Elizabeth Court and 7 Arthur projects would be limited to the approval of building permits and associated inspections. The Town did not have a role in the creation of the developments.

Elizabeth Court is a registered non profit housing provider under the Housing Services Act O.Reg. 368/11. Lanark County provides annual municipal funding to ensure it can maintain the asset and permit tenants to pay rent geared to their income. Elizabeth Court’s rent geared to income units are housed through the County’s centralized waitlist. 

Q8: Could you provide a rundown of the role/duties/requirements that a councillor has in approving/rejecting development permit applications and subdivision agreements? What kind of conditions can be imposed/suggested? What are the consequences of rejecting a proposal? What impact can a councillor actually have on the outcome of a proposal?

A8 - Provided by Niki Dwyer, Director of Development Services - To answer these questions, I would encourage candidates to review the resources available on the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing website as linked below.  In addition to these specific resources – the Ministry has produced a wonderful array of user friendly documents that help elaborate on the duties, responsibilities and processes involved in municipal governance.

1 - Roles of Council, Councillors and Staff - https://www.ontario.ca/document/ontario-municipal-councillors-guide/1-role-council-councillor-and-staff

7 - Councillors as lawmakers - https://www.ontario.ca/document/ontario-municipal-councillors-guide/7-councillors-lawmakers

10 - Land Use Planning - https://www.ontario.ca/document/ontario-municipal-councillors-guide/10-land-use-planning

Citizens Guide to Land use Planning (includes 9 subtabs located in the “Table of Content”) - https://www.ontario.ca/document/citizens-guide-land-use-planning

Subdivision https://www.ontario.ca/document/citizens-guide-land-use-planning/subdivisions

Similar resources can also be found on the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Culture Tourism and Sport websites.

Q9: Can you describe the process for the Town purchasing private property, specifically land? (For clarity, I'm not talking about annexing land from adjacent municipalities, but outright acquiring property from within the existing Town boundary). Is there some sort of right of first refusal? Which properties are currently owned by the Town?

A9 - From Trisa McConkey, Treasurer – Please see this listing of properties