MAPLETON — The township is looking for feedback on its proposed strategy to fund over $40 million in capital water and wastewater projects.
Following previous staff recommendations, Mapleton is exploring establishing a Municipal Services Corporation (MSC) with Graham Capital Partners LP to manage the township's water and wastewater services and finance future expansions necessary to accommodate the township's anticipated and ongoing community growth.
An MSC is a corporation whose shares and voting rights are owned by a municipality and provides a system, service or thing the municipality could provide. MSC's are established in several areas across Ontario including the City of Guelph.
With the expansion anticipated to cost the township approximately $41 million, a presentation from Graham Capital at a Mapleton council meeting Tuesday afternoon said establishing an MSC would allow the township to borrow $33.7 million under its current borrowing capacity and incur an additional $35.9 million on the MSC.
As of October 2024, the township's borrowing capacity was approximately $40.8 million.
Township staff said there will also be opportunities to expand the MSC mandate to include other opportunities like streetlights.
When asked how adopting an MSC would impact any potential grants, staff said all capital projects will be treated the same whether under the township or MSC title.
If approved, the MSC would be responsible for all of the township's water and wastewater systems including operations, renewal and capital upgrades.
If rejected, staff said council will face "difficult decisions" regarding capital priorities required for community development due to the municipality's "limited access to funding."
While alternatives to the MSC include development charges, external grant funding, public or private financing, staff said relying fully on any of these options would result in funding gaps or similar borrowing restrictions.
Once the MSC is established, the billings and rate collections related to water and sewer services would move from the township to the MSC.
Graham Capital is recommending the MSC continue with an annual rate increase of 5.5 per cent for the next 12 years, including an estimated two per cent inflationary increase in operating costs to fund the proposed $41 million capital program.
The public consultation period is now open until Feb. 28, during which all questions and comments on the proposed MSC should be directed to [email protected]
Once completed, council will review and address any feedback and then vote on whether to proceed with establishing the MSC.
A public meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11 starting at 5:30 pm at council chambers.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.