Elgin calls for health unit refund

Elgin councillors, in a charge led by Malahide Deputy Mayor Mike Wolfe, wants some of the county’s money back from Elgin St. Thomas Public Health for 2015.

The Ontario government recently announced that funding for 28 of 36 health units across the province had been deemed to high compared to eight others. As a result, the government’s funding for the “rich” health units has been frozen retroactively to 2014 levels.

Elgin councillors are calling on the health unit to refund $50,000 in additional funding that the city and county allocated to the agency this year, believing the province would match the three-percent increase.

St. Thomas Mayor Heather Jackson, who’s also chairman of the public health board, said her city wouldn’t seek a similar rebate.