Kingston has a housing problem – the demand for housing far exceeds the supply. I can feel it in my own business when I have to turn away 33 out of 34 applicants for a one bedroom apartment over the space of two days.
One growing sector of the housing problem is the shortage of affordable retirement living space. The market may help generate supply for the top income end of the market, but, at the lower end of the market something analogous to the slumlord experience is happening. Recent news stories have described a case in which slumlord tactics seem to be being applied to a retirement home. Slumlord tactics involve taking out as much money as possible while reinvesting as little as possible. This always has the effect of a deteriorating and rundown building.
When applied to a retirement home which involves special care for a vulnerable population, slumlord tactics have a much wider negative effect on the city. Not only do the residents suffer, so do their families and the home’s staff.
In an attempt to prevent substandard retirement homes, the province wisely has a licensing requirement and only in the most egregious cases do they revoke the license and shut down the business.
Such an order, revoking the license of a retirement home, has recently been issued in Kingston. If upheld under appeal, the order effectively means that staff will be laid off and residents evicted. Kingston as a whole will lose some employment and some older adults will have to find other accommodations. There does not appear to be a provincial program to take over and manage the dissolution and closing of retirement homes in an orderly way when the license has been revoked. This means everyone involved – the workers and the elderly residents especially are pretty much on their own in coping with the fallout. In this somewhat chaotic situation it falls on the local community to pick up the pieces.
This is important for Kingston firstly, because we are an aging society. Demographics show that older adults are the fastest growing sector of the population. This means that the need for retirement homes will increase as will the number of those who prey on older adults. Many of us, whose lives are not cut short by disease or accident, may end up in a retirement home.
Secondly, this is important because the provincial government is dedicated to finding efficiencies and reducing expenditures. While much good may come from this policy, practically speaking, it often means downloading service responsibilities to the municipalities. In other words, it likely means shifting the burden of government services from the income tax payer to the property tax payer. Compared to when they were younger, older adults often have smaller incomes and increasing property tax bills to pay. This means that there will be increasing financial pressure for older adults to divest themselves of their property and thus push even more of them into retirement homes.
Given recently uncovered shady practices in a local retirement home, what responsibility do we have as a community and a City to protect and care for our elders in vulnerable situations? I believe that if we in the City have the ability to improve many lives without adding to anyone’s tax burden the City should do so.
The City of Kingston has supported many worthy social enterprises. Four examples with which I have been associated are: Oasis Senior Supportive Living, Dawn House women’s shelter, the Sustainable Kingston Corp. and the Seniors Association. City of Kingston staff have an outstanding track record in facilitating and helping social enterprises. The time may be here to use that expertise for another one.
If the city were to get into the management of retirement homes and use surpluses generated to fund supplements for low-income or vulnerable seniors in our retirement homes we could improve the lives and security of many without a tax increase – with non-tax revenue that is used to improve services without adding to the tax burden. With the City’s strong customer service ethos and commitment to continuous improvement, we could set increasingly higher standards of governance, accountability and care in the industry city wide. I believe implementing this idea would contribute to fulfilling our social responsibility to our elders across our community.
The City has never entered the retirement home market but there is a real social need. The world today is unlike any we have lived in before. It comes with new challenges and opportunities. I believe we need new ways of looking at things and new solutions to new problems.
I want to learn from you. Are Kingstonians supportive of expanding our non-tax revenue opportunities so as to improve the livability of our community for older adults? Are affordable retirement residences worth fighting for; do you want me to advocate for some surpluses to be used to help vulnerable older adults? Please let me know.