Markham's Making Money Moves.
Councillor pay raises, Federal Investment, and Old Navy Out at Markville.
Good Morning Markhamites,
We’ve got a lot in this edition, but some housekeeping items first.
Apologies for the lack of consistency - we’re shifting this newsletter to a weekly format based on reader feedback. Thursdays seem to strike a good balance between reporting on important news of the week and looking forward to community events. From now on, this will come out weekly on Thursdays.
Second, our reader survey is ongoing - If you haven’t filled it out yet, DO so to be entered to win a $25 gift certificate from Fresh Heads Farm Shop!
PSA: Friday is a P.A. day for both school boards
Today’s read is about 5 minutes.
Markham City Councillors vote in favour of a pay raise in a special council meeting.
On Tuesday, a special council meeting was held to raise local ward councillor’s pay for 2024. Previously, local ward councillors had an average salary of $85,347. At this meeting, they approved a pay increase to $93,882 per councillor, effective January 1st, 2024. During this meeting, they reiterated that the mayor and regional councillors’ pay will not increase. This pay increase puts the councillors just above Brampton and below Mississauga.
If you look at the meeting notes, you will see the reason for this raise is not based on merit, cost of living or other objective metrics but that Mississauga and Brampton councillors make more money than they do. As of 2021, Markham has a population of 338,503 across eight wards, while Brampton had 656,480 across ten wards and Mississauga had 717,961 across eleven.
Because of the new strong mayor powers granted by the province, Mayor Scarpitti is expected to table the budget for 2024 at some point at the end of February or early March. Municipal taxes are expected to rise based on the regional budget tabled earlier this month. But how much the city levy will increase is still unclear. Now is a good time to remind everyone that Mayor Scarpitti is the highest-paid mayor in the GTA.
Old Navy at Markville is set to close on January 24th.
After re-evaluating its real estate footprint, Gap Inc. has decided to close the Markville Old Navy as well as the one located in the Eaton Centre this month.
There are 20-50% off clearance sales continuing until the last day of operation.
A local spokesperson said, “Local customers can continue to shop other nearby Old Navy locations in Toronto, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Scarborough, or shop our Gap Inc. family of brands online.”
Cadillac Fairview has not indicated what will replace the store with a considerable footprint.
Markham’s VentureLab gets a 4.5M investment from the federal government.
VentureLab, a Markham tech hub received a 4.5M dollar investment to help scale hardware and semiconductor tech firms. Minister of Economic Development Filomena Tassi and local MP Mary Ng were on hand for the announcement.
The federal government said this latest funding is aimed at supporting 30 companies in total, leading to the commercialization of 25 new products.
Community Notes
Highway 407 charges expected to increase in Feburary, after being frozen since 2020
Orkin wants you to look out for pests trying to enter your home to seek shelter from the cold.
What’s Happening in Markham this week
Thursday January 18th, 8 PM, Flato Markham Theatre - Epic Eagles Tribute. Tickets here
Friday January 19th 8 PM Flato Markham Theatre - Dances In My Mind: Mezza with special guest Vince Mancuso. Tickets here
Saturday January 20th, 3-5 PM, Milestones Downtown Markham - The Original Paint N Sip nite - Tickets here
Saturday, January 24th, 9PM 7725 Birchmount Road— 21+ Games Night with food and Live DJ - Get your tickets here
Tuesday January 23rd, 7PM Flato Markham Theatre - Markham at the Movies Presents: Past Lives - Directed by Markham native Celine Song. Tickets here or $15 at the door
Tuesday, January 23rd, 7PM - Development services public meeting - Rental housing development proposal at 14th and Donald Cousens. Learn how to participate here.
Wednesday, January 24th 6:30 - 8:30 pm - Music Bingo Night at Rouge River Brewery. Free to play with fun prizes! Details here
If you would like to submit your photos of Markham - feel free to follow and tag our Instagram page, and we’ll credit you!
If you’ve got a story pitch, send it to themarkhamite@Substack.com