Welland in the News
Welland’s residential boom is ‘not all retired people’: mayor Campion
November 3, 2021
Welland’s residential boom is ‘not all retired people’: mayor Campion
Welland mayor Frank Campion gave his fall update on the state of the city as is moves out of the pandemic. CITY OF WELLAND PHOTO
Nearly two full years of pandemic have changed the way business operates in Welland, but that doesn’t mean it’s slowed things down.
“Nothing has stopped, it’s just delivered differently. We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Welland Mayor Frank Campion during his virtual fall update on Oct. 28, hosted by the South Niagara Chambers of Commerce.
“But as we start to exit the pandemic, looking back at the last two years and seeing what’s been going on in the city, despite the pandemic, the city has been busy. It’s been moving forward with a lot of different plans.”
If there’s one thing that changed the most since he took office back in 2014, Campion said it’s been the resurgence of the city’s industrial sector.
“We saw a decline back in the early 90s as there was an exodus of a lot of industrial companies,” said Campion, who noted that the sudden disappearance of major industrial players left a big hole in the city’s industrial tax balance sheet. The burden for maintaining city services was then shifted to the city’s residents, to make up for the loss of industrial taxes.
“It became very clear that our residential taxes are fairly high, we’re not going to dispute that,” said Campion. “But it was a result of that loss of industrial [tax] assessment. We need to relieve that tax burden which was shifted to the residential.”
By 2014, the city’s once booming industrial tax assessment had dwindled to $68 million, but according to Campion, that has rebounded to $139 million. Today, Campion said city hall receives calls almost daily from industrial companies looking to move into, or expand, in Welland.
With all that industrial expansion, Campion said a top priority has been finding the right place to put all that industry. The city’s thinking on that front has changed too. Rather than going all in on one or two major industrial employers, Campion said the city is focused on attracting a larger quantity of mid-sized industrial companies.