A new partnership between the City of Hamilton and the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board could benefit neighbourhoods that are affected by future public school closures.
The board is offering a deferred payment plan through which the city would pay no more than a set amount each year for surplus school sites, with any remainder above the cap to be carried over.
Board Chair Todd White tells Hamilton’s general issues committee that we could set the cap at $4 million or $5 million, for example, and anything beyond that amount would be carried over to the next budget year.
He adds that there would be “no interest, it’s not a mortgage, it’s not a loan, it’s nothing along those lines. It would just be a deferred payment.”
Ward 5 Coun. Chad Collins says it’s a terrific concept that should help with a “frustrating” and “stressful” process.
He notes that surplus school properties are made available on short notice and “then we have a couple of months to work through a process where we might purchase them outside of our own budget.”
White says there are also benefits for the school board in terms of moving properties at a more “reasonable” pace, since they’ve often delayed sales until they meets the city’s budget needs.
He stresses that leads to vacant buildings with fences around them and “complaints from the community.”
Comments