Twas a month before Christmas, and all through city hall
Residents asked for straight answers but there were curve balls for all
The budget was final, the numbers were in
We’ll try to explain them, but where to begin?
Property Taxes
On December 11th our Regional Council voted on and finalized the Police Services Budget and the Halton Region Budget. All the components of our overall tax bill have their increases locked in.
Here are the Burlington facts:
8.3% – the total increase in tax revenue from new and existing home and business owners.
7.51% – the tax increase to existing home and business owners.
5.82% – the overall increase on our tax bill.
5.5% – the increase to water and wastewater charges, billed separately by the Region of Halton.
Wondering what happened to the 4.97% number read more here: Why are taxes in Burlington so complicated? Watch the YouTube video of our CFO, Craig Millar, explaining the “impact of the budget for Burlington’s share will be 3.79%”.
Budget Issues Update
The BRAG budget group consists of members of our BRAG team as well as several community members who have volunteered to assist. BRAG presented the council with a 14-page document highlighting 25 areas of concern that our group found with the 2025 budget. We’re working on the responses and continuing this work. If you’re interested in joining the budget group please click here to contact us.
BRAG is also busy reviewing the entire budget process from this year and planning our strategy around next year’s budget. We have discussed the fact that responding to the city on their timelines was not very effective. Next year, we are planning a different strategy, and we will be asking for public input long before the budget talks at the city begin. Please stay tuned for more information to come in the new year.
Tax Petition Update
Thank you to everyone who signed the petition for a zero percent increase. With the 7.51% increase for 2025, Burlington property taxes will have increased 36.97% since the election in 2022. We ended up with 1,248 signatures. The council acknowledged receipt of the petition.
The purpose of this, or any, petition is not simply to have the petition “acknowledged” (yet this seems to be the practice here in Burlington). We feel this is another example of the disconnect between council asking for resident feedback versus what they do with it when they get it.
You can read the full delegation here: Tax Petition is presented to council “oh well”.
Bateman Community Centre
The Bay Observer lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman about the city’s communication with the public regarding the Bateman Community Centre project. It reads, in part: “I submit that the city engaged in deliberate obfuscation of the financial scope of the project, as they engaged in public consultation. Indeed, those members of the public who participated in surveys and town halls had no idea for what they were actually providing buy-in, making the public consultation piece a sham.”
We’ve included a timeline on the Bateman project and a link to the full Bay Observer article, published on December 4th, 2024, click here to read more.
Civic Engagement
This year’s budget engagement and the city’s process with Bateman are examples of how things work or don’t work with respect to engagement in Burlington. Lynn Crosby took the council to task on this issue; this delegation is well-researched and worth the read (and Lynn didn’t write this line): Click here to read Lynn’s delegation.
Stephen White recently wrote about engagement in the Burlington Gazette:
As always, thank you for the ongoing support, and thank you for reading our newsletter. Please share it with friends and family, keep visiting our website as we update it regularly, and contact us with your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you.
We wish you all a healthy and happy holiday!
The BRAG Team