2024 Budget Approved by Council
City Council has approved the operating and capital budgets for the 2024 year. This budget will result in a 2.5% property tax increase. There will be $42 million invested into capital projects in our ward, including more than $11 million for road resurfacing, upgrades, and other vital transportation infrastructure. To learn more about the general budget direction and some specific priorities that were funded in our ward, click here.
I have been working alongside my colleagues to advance a number of other priorities too.
Council approved a motion that will see money from automated speed enforcement cameras directed toward new traffic control devices, such as roundabouts and traffic lights. I was working with my colleagues and the Mayor’s Office to advance this idea as it will speed up the introduction of these measures throughout the City, including in our ward. It puts traffic signals like the one that Richmond needs at Perth and Shea on a faster track to receiving funding; it will help make sure that intersections like Flewellyn and Eagleson or Barnsdale and Rideau Valley Drive get roundabouts and traffic signals on schedule. And it will move intersections with operational concerns, like Flewellyn and Shea, up the priority list.
Taken together, this is a major win for our ward and will help make sure that necessary traffic management infrastructure is advanced more expediently. It may not solve these problems immediately, but it moves our priorities forward much more quickly than they would otherwise move. I was pleased to have played a role in delivering this policy change alongside the Mayor and Council colleagues.
Additionally, on automated speed enforcement, I have been working hard with staff behind the scenes and have confirmed that Bridge Street will receive funding for an automated speed enforcement camera implementation part of the 2024 budget. Staff have confirmed that they will be removing other cameras from the list early in 2024 as they were deemed to not be doable based on hydro availability and other site issues. We worked other Councillors to ask staff to see these other proposed locations in that light.
This will have the net effect of moving Bridge up onto the 2024 funding list. This was not reflected in the report that was voted on as part of the budget, but it is nonetheless a change that we have confirmed will be moving forward. I will stress that there are some modest site issues on Bridge that will have to be resolved, so 2024 funding may not mean 2024 implementation. But now that the funding piece is solved, the first major hurdle has been surmounted. I am pushing to move this speed camera forward as quickly as possible to help ensure the safety of Manotick residents.
With respect to trucks in Manotick, we attempted to get a motion through at Council regarding a truck route review. As I have previously outlined, this would be the natural next step toward removing trucks from the Village, as the removal of Bridge Street from the network requires a formal review. We could not get to a point on a motion that was supported by City staff and the Mayor’s office, but both staff and the Mayor’s office indicated that they would be working with us after the budget’s passage to move this issue forward in the new year.
Without the support of staff and the Mayor on a motion, I could not advance a motion at this stage, as doing so would not receive Council’s support and would preclude us from bringing forward the same matter during this term of Council given the rules of procedure surrounding reconsideration. My office has identified a few potential funding sources and we will work to apply them to this priority over the course of 2024.
There were other issues and files that I know that the communities in our ward are eager to have advanced. I know that our communities did not get everything that residents want and deserve in this budget. Even so, I have confidence that I can continue to work with staff, the Mayor, and my Council colleagues next year to continue to advance our priorities. Though the budget may be approved, this is the first, not the last, opportunity to make progress on our priorities in the 2024 year. I will keep pushing and working until the job is done.
Apart from budget, we also voted on a wide range of other items at Council, including a large agenda that rose from the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. For instance, working with my ARAC colleagues, we were able to prevent an attempted bureaucratic overreach from City staff. You can listen to what I had to say about the proposed Site Alteration by-law, and the need protect the rights of farmers and rural residents, here.
The City is also moving forward on its solid waste master plan; residents may know that I spent a considerable amount of time this year fighting to prevent a bag tag program. I have also been advocating for the City to move toward a waste-to-energy solution rather than landfilling. I am pleased to say that the direction in the approved solid waste master plan supports this goal.
2023 has been a productive year; we have a lot of significant achievements toward getting the City back to basics and advancing the priorities of our communities. And we are just getting started.
I look forward to continuing the this vital work in the new year.