*Please see below a joint statement released by the Burlington Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Strategy and Budgets
Burlington, Ont. — Feb. 14, 2023 — Burlington City Council approved the 2023 Budget at our meeting earlier today (Feb.14). There is no question this budget presented a challenge to staff, Council, and residents, but it also presented a clear opportunity to make our city better – not just for the next few years, but for future generations.
This budget makes key investments in community centres at the former Robert Bateman school site and new Skyway community centre and arena; as well as in park improvements; active transportation including cycling, walking and transit; coyote response to ensure public safety; more bylaw enforcement to improve quality of life; automated speed cameras to reduce speeding on local roads; and preserving our free Beachway parking pass program for Halton residents.
These investments respond directly to requests from residents about what their priorities are. We recognize these will vary – one person’s ‘need-to-have’ may be another person’s ‘nice-to-have’. We take all input from the community in investing in services that serve all our residents.
We’ve also accounted for inflation, ongoing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in revenue loss and increased expenses, and ensuring we are competitive in a tight labour market to attract the best people to deliver the best services our residents count on. We are also playing catch-up after years of underfunding in community needs, as well as increasing services for new residents – recognizing that population growth never fully pays for growth.
Your taxes also pay for public school boards, investing in local education, as well as services at the Regional level, including health and social services, waste management, paramedic services and housing.
Burlington’s 2023 Budget represents crucial investments that will benefit our community now and your children, your grandchildren, and their children. We are setting a strong foundation for today and our future, while delivering the services our growing community is asking for.
Sincerely,
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward & Deputy Mayor for Strategy & Budgets City of Burlington Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman
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ADDITIONAL DETAILS:
- The 2023 Budget was approved by City Council on Feb. 14.
- As with every annual budget, Council members had the opportunity to bring amendments during discussions at committee to reduce or add to the budget.
- Approved amendments for the 2023 Budget included:
- maintaining free Beachway parking passes for Halton residents;
- free transit for youth after hours;
- funding for digital transformation at City Hall;
- funding for active transportation and events; and
- preserving free Beachway parking passes program for Halton residents.
- Those amendments increased the overall tax rate to 7.52% — that includes city, regional and education tax rates. The city-only portion of your tax bill amounts to 6.34%, while the region portion is 1.18%. The portion for education did not increase.
- The city-portion includes 0.79% for dedicated infrastructure. The City of Burlington currently has a gap between infrastructure renewal needs and funding provided in the capital budget. Current and previous Councils have developed a 20-year asset management plan to close this gap over time with a dedicated annual infrastructure levy. The former hospital levy was also repurposed to help close this gap, but that amount alone is insufficient to do so.
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2 thoughts on “Joint Statement on the Burlington 2023 Budget: Investing in our Community Now & for Future Generations”
Poor fiscal management is what we have here folks and a political elite running the show in Burlington. 7.52% increase this year and the Mayor warned of at least this much next year. Few cities in Ontario are facing such high tax rates while residents are dealing with record inflation, high interest/mortgage rates and a punishing useless Carbon Tax that pushes the costs up on everything you buy even with the silly CAIP rebates. This Mayor and City Council are out of touch. Sorry, now is not the time to “invest.” Now is the time to look for efficiencies/cuts to show residents you have done all you can before asking taxpayers to ante up big money for your vanity projects. It is totally tone deaf to ask taxpayers to pay at least 15%+ over 2 years during these trying times.
Madam Mayor & Paul Sharman,
Please never overlook the fact that the City of Burlington has been called the “Best City in Canada to live in”.
With that in mind I believe the City needs to think SERIOUSLY about including HYDROGEN in the Budget if nothing else than a TRIAL RUN with City Trucks and one City Bus (at a time).
We are all aware that Electric Cars and Trucks are not the answer to our ATMOSPHERE or our Garbage Disposal.
May we not follow Vancouver and Edmonton with trials of Hydrogen Stations and a Hydrogen Powered City Bus. Perhaps a small City truck. Remember Quebec City has 30 Hydrogen Taxis. Quebec Province is manufacturing Small Hydrogen School Buses & Trucks.
Why is it that Ballard Industries in Vancouver is helping Countries like France and the British Isles convert to Hydrogen City Buses?
You have probably heard of the problems that Elon Musk is having with the longevity of his Battery Powered Cars.