End Autopilot User Fees

Joshua Glover | Candidate for Councillor, Ward 2

Municipalities across Ontario rely on revenue sources beyond the property tax. In Clarington, municipal user-fee collections increased by 76.2% between 2020 and 2024—from $10.39 million to a record $18.31 million, including a $4.47 million increase between 2023 and 2024 alone.

In June 2023, Council passed By-law 2023-044 (Staff Report FSD-029-23), giving the Deputy CAO/Treasurer standing authority to approve annual fee adjustments. Staff may raise existing fees each year by Ontario CPI or a flat $5 minimum — whichever is higher. Fee-setting left the Council agenda and went onto administrative autopilot.

The “CPI or $5” rule

Larger fees. On a $500 membership or ice rental, 3% CPI is $15. That beats the $5 floor, so the fee rises by the percentage.

Small transactions. On a $10 reprint, a $15 certification, or a $20 day pass, 3% CPI is $0.30 to $0.60. The $5 floor overrides that and lifts the charge 25% to 50%.

Clarington’s $5 floor has its greatest proportional impact on basic, low-cost services. The CPI component raises a separate concern: CPI tracks a household consumer basket, not a municipality’s operating and capital basket.

Where User Fees Are Generated

Recreation is the largest share of user-fee revenue: ice, lessons, memberships, halls, and 55+ programming.

Service category	2022 Actual	2023 Budget	2026 budget	change
Facilities & arenas Ice pads, hall rentals	$1,917,180	$2,286,300	$2,815,200	46.8%
Aquatic programs Lessons, leadership	$739,798	$911,350	$1,309,900	77.1%
Recreation programs Youth and camps	$332,215	$647,950	$848,100	155.3%
Fitness programs Memberships, classes	$390,100	$458,900	$596,700	53.0%

Unlike property taxes, individual user fees do not vary with household income or property value. The same fee applies to every household purchasing the same service. A compounding increase can therefore weigh more heavily on a young family enrolling children in sport than on a higher-income household purchasing the same service.

The Bowmanville Community Complex

As the Bowmanville Community Complex opens in phases, its programs and services will operate within Clarington's existing user-fee framework. The 2026 aquatic revenue target is $1,309,900, compared with $739,798 collected in 2022. The 2026 recreation program revenue target of $848,100 is 155.3% above the $332,215 collected in 2022.

These growing recreation revenue targets will coincide with the existing annual fee-adjustment mechanism. Unless Council changes that framework, eligible existing admissions and program fees may continue to be adjusted administratively without returning to Council for an individual vote.

Policy Commitments

Repeal the autopilot: I will table a motion to end the CPI-or-$5 adjustment mechanism and repeal the $5 minimum floor from Clarington's User Fee By-law.

Conduct a service-cost review: That motion will freeze baseline community recreation and front-counter fees while staff run a service-cost review, so later adjustments follow verified delivery costs.

Introduce proportional rounding: After that review, replace the $5 floor with proportional rounding: under $25, inflation rounded to the nearest $0.25 or $0.50; $25 to $100, to the nearest $1.00; rentals over $100, to the nearest $5.00. A $15 family swim pass at 3% inflation becomes $15.50, not $20.

On October 26, vote Joshua Glover for Peace, Order, and Good Government.

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