The following items will be discussed at the Community & Corporate Services Committee Feb. 16, 1 pm & 6:30 pm, at City Hall. Remuneration and expenses paid to Council and appointees for 2015. Increase of .98% for 2016 Changes to grass sport fields rates and fees. $140,000 for Public Art Program projects for 2016 – 2017 Update on […]
The city’s 2016 capital budget is proposed at $53 million. Of that amount, $1.5 million is for new projects; $44m is for capital asset renewal; and $7.6 million is for projects related to population growth. Projects are divided into 8 asset categories, with roadways taking the vast majority of funding, at $29 million. Next is […]
Cy Mills: PARKING DATA COLLECTION. $300,000 to count the number of parked cars ??? Why not create jobs by having people stand…
Michele Prestage: I am shocked at what the Transit dept is being charged for Bus shelters. I had a quote for my…
Burlington’s 2015 budget was approved 6-1 with a 3.64% tax increase. When blended with educational and regional taxes, which make up roughly two-thirds of the tax bill, the overall increase is 2.06%. Staff had initially proposed a budget with an overall increase of 3.55%, with enhancements to infrastructure, transit, storm water management and some cultural initiatives. […]
James Brown: In my opinion the actions of council, and by extension all of City Hall, are nothing short of criminal. The…
Bob Prociuk: Marianne. In your update you stated that the city anticipated budget increases in the range of 3.5% to 4.0% for…
Isabel Cummings: Thank you most sincerely Marianne for this communication. When the Provincial Government a few years back dumped $200,000,000. yes is…
Charlie Schwartz: In responding to this years budget - regarding BPAC, when is this out of control which we HAD to have…
Residents tease me sometimes as the “Queen of the 6-1 vote” because I’ve been on the losing end of some high profile votes covered by the press. I take the ribbing in the good natured way it’s intended, knowing residents expect me to stand up for them. To quote the anonymous proverb “If you don’t […]
Kevin Ross: I am quite taken aback that vote counts and voting in general is not recorded... What ? But, to the…
John: "You will miss every shot you don't take" A great quote from Wayne Gretzky and we will never know how…
City council has approved a 1.3% increase to their salaries. Effective April 1, Council salaries will increase as follows: Councilor salary: from $53,095 to $53,785 Mayor salary: from $121,676 to $123,257 The method for determining any council salary increases was developed by the Citizen Committee on Council Remuneration in 2013. The formula limits increases to no […]
Bruce Bond: I agree with the increase for councillors who consider the job as full time but not for the ones who…
GP: Although I understand your reasoning for the increase in salary I must disagree. As the first year of service based…
Select roadway improvements in the 2015 capital budget include the following: Lakeshore Road from Maple Ave to the city limit: (Will be completed in conjunction with the Beachway Master Plan) $2.8 million, including $235k for bike lanes. Plains Road East from Fairview St to Brenda Crescent, full road reconstruction and proper storm drainage below the CN […]
Mary Ann Vassair: In regard to Lakeshore Road improvements, are there plans to widen this road due to the fact it is now…
Linda Torrance: Hi Marianne Regarding the 2018 Hydro Corridor paving existing gravel pathway from Graham's Lane to Lakeshore: Since the Hydro work…
City council has unanimously passed the city’s operating budget with an increase of $5 million in spending, offset by revenues, for a 3.5% increase in the city portion of your tax bill (the capital budget was approved in February with no increase). Over two days of discussions, council shaved roughly $1 million and just over […]
Marianne Meed Ward: Thanks Graeme! That is a lot of tax for a vacant building. Have you looked into the vacancy rebate from…
obiterdicta39: Nope...but I did stop at the City's Tax Dept who could not offer any relief. Of course our first floor…
obiterdicta39graeme litteljohn: Marianne, I am almost embarrassed to conclude I am 100% in line with all of your positions. And we should…
In the next two weeks, council will decide the 2014 budget at several specially scheduled meetings of the Corporate & Community Services Committee, Feb. 11 (capital budget), Feb. 13 (public delegations), and Feb. 20 (discussion and final vote). The starting point for discussions is a staff proposed increase of 4.1%, down slightly from staff’s original […]
Joan Turbitt: I see a lot of savings here. It is my suggestion that savings from the employee parking, or the PAC…
Without an aggressive strategy of job creation, Burlington residents will see their property taxes spike, services cut or development expand into rural areas.
Here’s why: Providing all of the services required for residents – community services and infrastructure for example – far exceeds the tax revenues collected. By contrast, the “industrial, commercial, institutional” tax class – or “ICI” -pays more than double the residential property tax rate, but only costs a fraction of that to service. There can be as much as an 80% profit on industrial taxes, versus a 40% loss on residential taxes.
A balance between residential and ICI tax revenue is critical to municipal health, yet currently, residential taxes account for 82% of Burlington’s tax revenue, versus 18% from the commercial/industrial sector.
Non residential growth has essentially flatlined in Burlington over the past 15 years, while residential growth has almost tripled. Burlington used to see double digit employment growth; now, 2% annual growth is “optimistic.” When residential growth outpaces economic growth, the city is left with three unpalatable choices: cut services, dramatically increase property taxes, or expand development into the rural area.
Burlington City : Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward: [...] focus on expanding our Industrial-Commercial-Institutional tax base (as I wrote about recently here. Burlington’s growth has come primarily from…
Priorities in 2013 - Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward : Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward: [...] taxpayers, residential tax rates will continue to increase. As I wrote about last month (here), the Burlington Economic Development Corporation…
The majority – 87% – of this year’s requests were approved, either as additions to the base budget or draws on reserves. We need to be more disciplined about saying no and focusing on need to haves, especially in light of the current economic climate.
Philip Harris: I have been retired for 15 years and over that time my income has slowly but steadily declined. This means…
Though the budget includes several need-to-have items – our contribution to the hospital redevelopment, money for infrastructure, the new Alton community centre and library, and enhanced transit service – it also includes almost $2 million in “nice-to-haves”.
We must do better than a 6.5% increase, and that will require some tough choices.
Burlington City : Ward 2 News Burlington | Marianne Meed Ward: [...] For a line by line discussion of proposed items in the budget, please see my earlier article on the…
In March, city council approved a budget that increases our funding for infrastructure and our hospital, resulting in a city tax increase of 3.29%.
My Take: During the election campaign, many of you told me you wanted the city to rein in spending, focus on priorities, and more closely align spending to economic realities. City taxes have increased by a whopping 75% since 2000 – about 5.6% per year, while our population has only grown by 18%, and inflation by 23%. This budget signals a new focus on fiscal restraint while maintaining or enhancing core priorities for our hospital and seniors.
Clarkd: I agree. Perhaps existing money could be used even more efficiently with close supervision of pier construction and sidewalk/road work,…
Gary Scobie: Thanks for supplying info on tax increases versus population and CPI increases. What an eye-opener!
I have learned from a downtown church leader that the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation is targetting some places of worship to assess their community gathering spaces (eg. parish hall) for the purpose of assessing property tax. This has already been done in churches throughout Ontario to disastrous effect.
Many churches offer their community space to local groups; if places of worship will now have to pay property tax on those spaces, the cost will be prohibitive to the church and the community group, and these important activities in our community places of worship will end.
Anonymous: I belong to another church, and "part" of our contribution to the community are free weekly suppers to about 130…
JDT: Religious groups as a whole engage only a minority of citizens (church attendance is very low) and each specific group…
Alysha Diane: Exactly my concerns. The community at large should not be required to subsidize churches that exclude members of the community.
Ron: I certainly don't favour taxing churches for letting out their premises for free. But what about those who make a…
Dhon MacKinnon: As a member of the Port Nelson United Church group that assists in the Community Dinners at Wellington Square U.C.,…
Jrwkraft: I think churches should pay property taxes just like everyone else. This could help to control property taxes for all.
Anonymous: You are obviously not a church goer/member.! If you were, you would not make such a statement. You do not…
The Ticats are exploring Paletta-owned lands in Aldershot between King and Waterdown roads for a $130 million, 22,000 seat stadium that would also be used for Pan Am games. Just after Christmas, Ticat officials approached Burlington to partner.
There may be public and private funding of about $100 million, leaving a potential “funding gap” of up to $30m for capital costs.
City Hall is increasing taxes at 3 times the rate of inflation to pay for nice-to-have capital projects like the pier. City Hall needs to limit spending: and ideas on how we could rein it in.
Chris Ariens: Please excuse in advance my long diatribe about the ADI proposal for Thomas Alton Boulevard, but this having an impact…
Lynn Crosby: That is a very well-thought-out letter, which you should send to all of council. You make very good points about…
Charlie Schwartz: My comment is in respect to the Public Art Program. Quite a bit of response in the Burlington Post was…
Marianne Meed Ward: Charlie, I agree we need to do more for people living in poverty in our community. Just as a side…