There has been talk about efficiencies gained by amalgamating fire departments in York Region. I have written previously that this is a fool's folly. We have already seen that the creation of Central York Fire Services resulted in the tax hike all Newmarket property owners received in 2012. Merging Fire Departments means higher taxes.
Yet there is an amalgamation that is indeed worthy of investigation and has proven successful elsewhere. That is the amalgamation of municipal libraries into a central York Region library system.
When the City of Toronto merged from the former cities of Scarborough, North York, Toronto, Etobicoke, York and East York, the result was an astounding success. Not only did the new City of Toronto get one of the North America's largest and most efficient library systems, amalgamation also resulted in the elimination of approximately 200 positions. The eliminated positions were redundancies that were costing taxpayers dearly and according to the Toronto Star, these were backroom, non-value added roles.
In addition to the merger, the Toronto Public Library system has been flirting with outsourcing which again improves efficiencies and bolsters the bottom line. In fact, according to a 2011 report from the American Library Association published in the American Library Magazine, there is significant financial upside to go with full scale private management service of our public library system. Many U.S. cities, facing tough budget decisions, have opted to go this route and have had significant success.
What is the advantage to a municipality like Newmarket to consider amalgamation?
1) Financial - The money allocated in 2013 to operate the Newmarket Public Library is $3.1 million. Of that amount, $161,000 gets spent on acquiring books, another $20,000 on reference materials, and $13,000 on magazines. These numbers pale in comparison to the $500,000 spent on management salaries. It is at this level where we are bound to find redundancies where we can save taxpayers almost 15% each year. That is significant money that can be reinvested back into the system to improve services and materials as well as allow the library to be open 7 days per week.
2) Better Access to Materials and Services - With amalgamation, the amount of materials in circulation will grow exponentially. Students will be able to access materials that aren't available to them presently. Library programs can be expanded and enhanced because of the wider network York Region would allow.
3) Attract a University - With over one million residents, it is unbelievable that York Region does not have a university located here. Why do our children need to leave home to travel for post secondary education while smaller communities in Ontario have local universities and colleges on their doorsteps? An amalgamated library system can be very attractive for post secondary students and researchers as it would provide materials needed to pursue higher education (like the City of Toronto Public Library system provides). If a college or university is in the Economic development plan for the Town of Newmarket, then the Mayor and Regional Councillor need to get behind enhancing the services that appeal to post secondary institutions.
This one is really a no-brainer in my opinion (which is likely why my idea will have the loft of a lead balloon, This gang on Newmarket Council has a tough time with common sense ideas). Rather than waste every one's time with studying amalgamation of fire departments which is a lose-lose scenario, why not get behind a winner like amalgamating the public libraries of York Region?
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