In one of its last acts of its term, city council stepped up to support Orillia’s future homeless shelter this week.
Monday was the last meeting of the 2014-18 council. During the meeting, Coun. Tim Lauer secured the two-thirds support of his colleagues needed to reconsider a motion passed at a meeting earlier in the year.
During that meeting in March, council agreed to provide tax exemption, for 10 years, for the 20 supportive-housing units that will be part of Building Hope’s shelter and other services on Queen Street — only if the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) does not provide the exemption.
Monday night, council amended the motion to include the 10-year tax exemption for the main Building Hope shelter, too — again, only if MPAC were to deny an exemption, and provided Building Hope and the County of Simcoe enter into a municipal capital facilities agreement.
Gayle Jackson, the city’s chief administrative officer, said staff believe the exemption will be granted by MPAC, but there is no guarantee that will happen.
Linda Goodall, executive director of the Lighthouse, Orillia’s current shelter, also expects MPAC to exempt the main building, since the Lighthouse is exempt.
“We do anticipate that, but you can never know, so it’s good to have this safety net,” she said.
An exemption — either from MPAC or the city — would help in more ways than one, Goodall added.
“It’s great that it includes both the supportive housing and shelter. As we move forward and we go into operational funds, it will help with that as well,” she said, adding being exempt from property taxes would put “less pressure on our operational funds.”
Whether the new shelter will be exempt will not be known until Building Hope has secured a building permit. It is still raising capital funds, but Goodall is confident.
“It is good to see that the community is stepping up and that larger donations are coming in,” she said. “Building Hope is going to happen.”
To learn more about Building Hope and opportunities to help with the campaign, click here.
