Ready, Fire, Aim: How Municipalities Get Themselves Into Trouble
Before Athens considers a new municipal campus, perhaps we should establish what we need, what we can afford, and why this idea has surfaced now.
A Curious Question at a Curious Time
Surveys are interesting things. They can tell us what people think, but they can also tell us quite a bit about the person asking the questions. What gets included, what gets left out, and how the choices are worded can all influence the answers. You don't have to fiddle with the results to get the outcome you want. Much of that work can be done before anyone fills out the questionnaire.
Take Councillor Matt Smith's recent Facebook survey. Among the questions is one about creating a shared municipal campus, possibly combining several township facilities. An interesting idea, certainly, but where did it come from? I haven't found any discussion of such a proposal in the published council minutes, nor have I seen a feasibility study, cost estimate or assessment of the buildings we already own.
And the timing is particularly interesting.
I know that the possibility of a shared municipal campus was mentioned to me by another councillor before the election campaign began. So this is not necessarily a new idea, nor is it necessarily Smith's. What I don't know is whether council ever discussed it formally or whether it remained an informal suggestion.
If the idea was already circulating before the election, why wasn't it raised during the campaign? Voters could have asked candidates about the need, the cost, the location and the effect on Main Street. Instead, it has appeared in a personal Facebook survey just as a new four-year council term begins.
Perhaps Smith is simply getting ahead of council. Perhaps he wants to take the lead on an idea others have considered. Either way, residents deserve to know where the proposal originated and whether any work has already been undertaken.
There is an important distinction here. Councillors are free to exchange ideas informally, but Ontario's Municipal Act, 2001 generally requires meetings at which a quorum materially advances council business to be open to the public and their proceedings recorded. The absence of minutes proves nothing improper. It does, however, leave an unanswered question about how far this idea has progressed.
When a Survey Becomes a Mandate
Smith's questionnaire offers respondents several choices: support studying a shared campus, consider one if affordable, prefer improving existing facilities, or oppose even exploring the possibility.
Notice the arrangement. Two choices allow respondents to express interest without making a commitment. The strongest opposing choice requires them to reject even investigating the idea.
Imagine 35% favour studying the proposal and another 25% would consider it if affordable. Those are hypothetical figures, but together they could be presented as 60% support for a new campus.
Of course, they would demonstrate nothing of the sort.
Nobody has approved a building, a location, a cost or a tax increase. Yet by grouping the answers conveniently, a survey could create the appearance of public backing for a project that has never been properly examined.
There is also the question of who responds. A Facebook survey reaches people who encounter the post and choose to participate. It is not a representative sample of the township, and the results should never be mistaken for a mandate from residents.
I would expect Smith to publish the complete results, including the number of responses and how he interprets them. Anything less leaves residents dependent on his account of what they supposedly said.
Public consultation is valuable. But council is elected to establish priorities, examine alternatives and make decisions. A councillor's personal survey cannot relieve it of those responsibilities.
A Cautionary Tale, or Two
Before Athens develops an enthusiasm for a new municipal complex, we might consider the experiences of two other Ontario municipalities.
Fauquier-Strickland, a northern township with fewer than 500 residents, reached a financial crisis in 2025. After accumulating more than $2.5 million in operating deficits over roughly a decade, it had exhausted its reserves and become heavily dependent on credit. Residents faced property tax increases of 26% in 2024 and another 20% in 2025, while the township contemplated even larger increases and the suspension of municipal services.
Among its capital expenditures was a new municipal building costing approximately $2.3 million. Residents questioned whether existing facilities could have been renovated instead. One resident observed that seeing new buildings constructed had given the impression the municipality was doing well.
The new building did not, by itself, cause the financial crisis. Years of deficits and other pressures contributed. But there is a lesson here: a municipality can appear to be making progress while its finances are quietly deteriorating.
Bracebridge provides a different example. Its Muskoka Lumber Community Centre, incorporating recreational facilities and a new library, had a project budget of approximately $75.3 million, with plans to borrow about $50 million.
Unlike Fauquier-Strickland, Bracebridge had undertaken feasibility planning, examined its needs and developed a financing strategy. Even with careful planning, it took on substantial debt to build the complex. The project illustrates how a desirable public facility can place a considerable long-term burden on municipal finances.
Neither example suggests that municipalities should stop building public facilities. They demonstrate why decisions about major capital projects must begin with a clear understanding of need, affordability and long-term consequences.
And the smaller the tax base, the less room there is for mistakes.
What Athens Needs to Know First
Athens has a more immediate problem. The township missed the July 1, 2025 provincial deadline for its updated Asset Management Plan. I have also been informed that the work has not yet been commissioned.
That plan is supposed to help council understand the condition of our existing infrastructure, what it will cost to maintain and replace it, and how those costs might be financed. Without it, how can council establish sensible capital priorities?
Residents also need an understandable account of the township's finances, particularly its reserves and future infrastructure obligations. An annual balanced budget does not necessarily mean that sufficient money is being set aside to maintain what we own.
Then there is the future of Main Street.
If a shared campus were built away from the village centre, perhaps near Centre 76 or elsewhere, what would happen to the businesses that benefit from people visiting Town Hall and the library? Those are hypothetical locations, not identified proposals, but the economic question is real. Small downtowns seldom decline because of one spectacular mistake. They lose a little at a time, as services relocate, foot traffic diminishes and businesses find it harder to survive.
It would be a curious achievement to spend millions improving municipal accommodation while weakening the commercial centre of Athens.
And what about water and sewer services? The village has neither municipal water nor sanitary sewer. That limits housing, commercial development and the potential growth of our tax base. A proper feasibility study could establish what options exist, what they would cost and whether any are practical.
Compare the possibilities. A new campus might improve how municipal services are housed. Water and sewer infrastructure, if feasible, could help shape the economic future of the village. These are very different investments, and council has yet to demonstrate how either should rank among our priorities.
That is why the order of decision-making matters. First establish what we own, what condition it is in, what we can afford and what the community needs. Then examine alternatives, calculate the consequences and consult residents on informed choices.
Perhaps a shared municipal campus will eventually prove worthwhile. But why has the idea surfaced immediately after an election, before council has publicly established its priorities, and while our Asset Management Plan remains overdue?
Athens faces difficult decisions, and the consequences will fall on the people who live here long after the present council has left office.
We should find out where we stand before deciding where we want to go.
Ready, fire, aim has never been a particularly reliable management method.
