Service cuts loom after library, London Transit shortchanged in mayor's budget
London Transit and London Public Library say the impact on users will be swift
The Beacock branch of the London Public Library is being closed indefinitely because of safety issues related to a leaky roof. It's the first step in what could be ongoing reduced hours and branch closures if more money isn't found in the municipal budget.
Meanwhile, London Transit is warning users they should get used to longer waits, more crowding, and possible service cuts if more cash isn't pumped into its budget. Ads inside buses and on social media are imploring people to speak to their city councillor about the importance of improving transit service.
"We asked for a growth budget of 25,000 additional service hours, and we didn't get any of that money," said Stephanie Marentette, who chairs the London Transit board. If politicians don't add any money, "it means we would be operating on the exact same budget as we have presently, so that means no opportunity to make service improvements."
That means the possible elimination of low-performing routes and no expansion to industrial areas or other in-demand parts of the city such as Riverbend, Lambeth, Talbot Village and Summerside.
Organizations were able to make business cases to the city for why they should get their base budgets and proposed increases. Based on those, Mayor Josh Morgan released his budget, which gives London police everything they wanted, but not other organizations, such as the library and transit, among others. Councillors now have to figure out which parts of Morgan's budget they support.
London Transit did get money to improve paratransit, but Londoners must tell city politicians they want better conventional transit, too, Marentette said. "We need them to say, 'Hey, this is important. We need money because we need to get to work or school. We need economic growth in the city. We don't need to be stagnant.'"
Mayor Josh Morgan swatted away London Transit's criticism, saying there's money for the organization's new Highbury Avenue garage in the budget as well as other service upgrades.
"What's being missed is how much more money they are getting. Their base budget that they get to work with every day will get 40.8 per cent increase, from $45 million to $64.5 million, and that's just their base budget," he said. "Over the course of this budget, they will have an additional $67.4 million to work with more than they had before. I am at a loss when I hear that they can't improve service with that amount of investment."
Reduced library hours
The library will have to consider reducing hours at some branches, or closing them altogether, said Brian Gibson, who chairs the library board. Branches that don't get as much foot traffic, but are still vital parts of their communities, such as Glanworth and Carson, might be on the chopping block, he said.
"The library is a place of refuge, a place where kids can be safe and free," Gibson said. The mayor's budget gave the library money for capital improvements, but reduced their base budget and rejected other increases.
"We wanted an 8.6 per cent increase, and we got a 5.4 per cent increase. We have enough money to maintain standards, but with the budget we've been given, we will not be able to maintain. We are going to have to look at service hours, and we may even have to look at closing branches. That's a realistic possibility."
Still, that increase is the largest the library has gotten in recent memory, Morgan said. "It's the most significant increase in library funding that I've seen in well over a decade, although it's less than they asked for," he said. "There is significant new funding for the London Public Library."
The current municipal budget would increase property taxes by 8.8 per cent this year, with other slightly smaller increases proposed in the next three years. That will likely change slightly, depending on what city councillors decide to do.
'Fund people,' advocate says
Morgan has said he "unequivocally" supports the police budget, which comes in at a whopping $672-million, but other politicians have signalled they want some of the money spent on police moved elsewhere. For example, money now earmarked for a light-armoured vehicle, Tasers and body cameras could go to pay for a mental health worker at the library, said Lesley Bikos, a former police officer who now studies police and injustice.
"Ballooning police budgets are not actually correlated with decreased crime," she said. "Police are more reactionary versus preventative. You just have an endless cycle of not actually getting to the root causes of why crime happens, and more of a reactionary response that actually just ends up harming people more than helping."
Overall crime, violent crime and non-violent crime are all down in London, according to Statistics Canada, Bikos added. Instead of spending money on a new state-of-the-art training facility, plus money for Tasers, dashboard cams and drones — all rubber-stamped in the mayor's budget — London could invest into health and homelessness supports, she added.
"When you fund communities, fund care, fund people, you get to the roots," Bikos said.
Morgan bristled at suggestions that organizations such as the library and transit are not getting as much as they could because of the large police budget.
"This is substantive new investment in traffic enforcement, response times, violent crime in the city. It's investments in doing things differently, not just throwing money at police and hoping things get better," he said. "The police chief has a new operational plan ... They're saying, you're going to get better service."
The budget consultation continues through this month. The final budget is due to get full approval from council in March.
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