Budget 2019 - 2021

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Consultation has concluded

Text - Preparing for Budget 2019-2021. Our City Our Future with logo

Budget 2019-2021 approved by Council on December 10, 2018

The City is planning for its next three-year budget in a time of significant change in the economy and shifting demographics. As well, several factors are increasing our operating costs from increases in electricity, fire protection, and debt servicing charges, to name a few.

The City has been working aggressively to find ways to operate more efficiently (from program review in 2016 to our current continuous improvement efforts) and Council is committed to keeping our human resources costs under control, to aggressively address the problem of rising power rates and to focus on stability through partnerships with community and government organizations.

However, with the slowing of the economy and the expected reduction in assessed values for 2019, to balance the budget (a requirement by law), with no decrease in services, the City is projecting residential and commercial mill rate increases.

Review the materials on this page including videos which help outline what we are doing and some of the challenges we are facing. Check out our property tax calculator to see what this could mean for your household’s municipal tax bill. Check out the detailed breakdown of 2019 budget costs and the overview of capital spending in the documents library.

Budget 2019-2021 approved by Council on December 10, 2018

The City is planning for its next three-year budget in a time of significant change in the economy and shifting demographics. As well, several factors are increasing our operating costs from increases in electricity, fire protection, and debt servicing charges, to name a few.

The City has been working aggressively to find ways to operate more efficiently (from program review in 2016 to our current continuous improvement efforts) and Council is committed to keeping our human resources costs under control, to aggressively address the problem of rising power rates and to focus on stability through partnerships with community and government organizations.

However, with the slowing of the economy and the expected reduction in assessed values for 2019, to balance the budget (a requirement by law), with no decrease in services, the City is projecting residential and commercial mill rate increases.

Review the materials on this page including videos which help outline what we are doing and some of the challenges we are facing. Check out our property tax calculator to see what this could mean for your household’s municipal tax bill. Check out the detailed breakdown of 2019 budget costs and the overview of capital spending in the documents library.

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  • Read what we Heard - What do you think?

    over 5 years ago
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    The consultation process for Budget 2019-21 has concluded and a lot of input was received.  For a detailed report of what we heard, check out this document. For a quick read infographic click here.

    What do you think? Anything missing?


  • Capital spending

    over 5 years ago
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    The capital budget includes what the City plans to cover for the long-term costs of building and renewing our water and sewer infrastructure, roads, parks and open spaces, recreational centers, fire stations, and not-for profit housing, and other buildings. The City finances capital projects in one of two ways:

    • Cost shared arrangements (i.e. Provincial and/or Federal funding programs). The city borrows its share and annual debt repayment becomes part of the operating budget. By leveraging other government funds, the City can undertake needed capital projects at a significantly reduced cost.
    • Annual allocation from the operating budget (Capital out of Revenue) which covers such capital investments as fleet replacement, technolgy upgrades, etc..

    The citizen survey told us that aside from essential projects, the city's priority should be on renewing existing capital assets versus spending on new infrastructure. What should the city focus on for capital spending? Are there capital projects that are less of a priority for you?



  • Value for Money and Service

    over 5 years ago
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    The citizen satisfaction survey told us that residents want to see value for their tax dollars. However, it also told us that residents think the services they receive from the City are very important to them. Since the city delivers such a variety of services from snow clearing to traffic planning, recycling to road maintenance, public transit (including GoBus) and arts and cultural grants to fire protection to name a few, how can we best determine the appropriate level of service while meeting value expectations?


  • What else does Council need to know to help plan for the budget?

    over 5 years ago
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    If you were a Councillor in the current economic reality, what is the most important piece of information you would need to know to develop a fair budget? What should Council consider as it's making its decisions?

  • Planning for future generations

    over 5 years ago
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    Through our strategic planning process we heard about what was important to people to create a great city. Check out the "what we heard" document here. When you think about the city of the future what does the city need to do to keep and/or attract young people who want to work and live here? How does the budget influence this?

  • Balancing budget and service

    over 5 years ago
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    The City has outlined its current budget reality. Through our citizen survey, residents expressed a desire to see improvements in several service areas but also expressed a desire to see taxes lowered or maintained. How can the city best balance these two requests in light of our fiscal and economic reality?