Share this Story: Taxes on typical home set to rise by $75
Taxes on typical home set to rise by $75
Columbus calls for fairness for Delhi museum
Mike Columbus SunMedia
Norfolk's heritage and culture division confirmed this week that hours and programming at the Delhi Tobacco Museum and Heritage Centre suffered over the past year compared to other county museums.
This despite council receiving assurances during the 2021 budget session that all heritage facilities would bear the burden of a proposed staff cutback, which was approved, and that any service reductions would be shared equally.
Taxes on typical home set to rise by $75 Back to video
Melissa Collver, Norfolk's director of heritage and culture, told council Thursday this is not how it panned out.
"We were not able to achieve that despite our best efforts," Collver told council shortly before it approved its 2022 operating budget. "I would say it's primarily a resource issue."
The 300-page document was tabled as a "business-as-usual" budget with a proposed 2.3 per cent increase in the residential levy.
Following some minor adjustments, the residential rate was increased by 2.4 per cent and approved. A typical homeowner in Norfolk will see their taxes increase this year by $75. All told, the county expects to collect $110.5 million this year in property taxes across all classifications.
Collver and Brandon Sloan, Norfolk's general manager of community development, opened up during Thursday's discussion about the challenges the heritage and culture division faced during another difficult year of COVID-19 shutdowns and partial shutdowns.
Norfolk's museums didn't re-open on a consistent basis until July, Collver said, adding the county did not have its usual complement of student help last year. There were also retention issues in this area, Collver said.
Port Dover Coun. Amy Martin recalled how former CAO Jason Burgess assured council during last year's deliberation that museums in Delhi, Waterford, Port Dover and Simcoe would share equally in the loss of resources. Despite that, Sloan said the heritage and culture division performed admirably in 2021 under difficult conditions.
"It's tough," Sloan said. "It was a challenge. I think the heritage-and-culture museum group did an admirable effort pulling off what they could pull off."
Delhi Coun. Mike Columbus brought the museum equity issue to the floor of Norfolk council in December.
Columbus said he hears concerns every week that the Delhi museum is closed more often than not. As well, he was disturbed by minutes of a recent heritage and culture committee meeting where annual review summaries were provided for the Waterford Heritage and Agricultural Museum, the Harbour Museum in Port Dover, and the Norfolk County Archives and Eva Brook Donly Museum in Simcoe. Noticeable by its absence was a summary regarding the museum in Delhi.
Columbus is frustrated because Norfolk inherited the Delhi museum from the former Township of Delhi in 2001. This compares with the Eva Brook Donly Museum, which was managed at the time by the Norfolk Historical Society. The historical society chose back then to remain independent of county management.
Several years ago – pleading financial hardship – the historical society had a change of heart and persuaded Norfolk County to assume responsibility for the operation in its entirety. The previous council agreed, in part, because Norfolk already owned the museum building in Simcoe and paid for its care and upkeep.
Columbus said it is not right that a legacy museum in Delhi should suffer so that the museum in Simcoe can pay for two staff members. He wants to see a plan, going forward, for equitable staffing and programming at all Norfolk museums. Turning the situation around, Columbus said, begins with the county re-engaging the community's volunteer complement.
"I believe the secret to making our museums work is to engage our volunteers as much as possible, as they were several years ago," Columbus said. "I know we've moved to the umbrella organization and that really hurt our museum operations. The closer we can engage our volunteers, the better."