Update: 2024 Budget Review
Right now, City Council is seized with the 2024 Budget. I have some thoughts on the budget and some improvements that I think can be made.
For some background, the City’s operating budget is $4.6 billion; the capital budget is about $1.2 billion. The budget is mostly funded through a mix of property taxes, development charges, and grants from higher levels of government; property taxes are proposed to increase by 2.5%. Rural residents in our ward, on average, will see an increase of $86 on their property taxes.
Though it is large, Budget 2024 is a reasonably tight budget. Compared to other major Cities in Canada, Ottawa is maintaining a slower rate of property tax increases than Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. A 2.5% property tax increase, when compared to the costs imposed on the City through inflation, is quite low.
In order to deliver the programs and services that residents expect, a 2.5% property tax increase means that savings have to be found throughout the City. A Service Review has identified millions of dollars of savings and changes to OC Transpo routes will help ensure that the transit agency is responding to changes in ridership in the post-COVID context. Taken together, these savings have helped ensure that the budget has remained tight.
For this increase in taxes, the City is investing significantly more into fixing, improving, and installing roads, bridges, and sidewalks. More than $300 million is being invested into integrated road construction and road renewal, storm and surface water rehabilitation, bridges, sidewalks and pathways. Another $140 million is going into bridge renewals, road rehabilitation, and road resurfacing. These are exactly the kinds of core investments that I have been advocating for as a priority.
The City is also investing into addressing homelessness, to support improving access to affordable housing, community safety, pedestrian and traffic safety improvements, and more. I am pleased that this budget achieves much of what I have been advocating for at a high level.
Over $42 million will be invested into capital projects in our ward. Though much of this investment is into improvements at the Trail Road Landfill, there is $7.28 million being invested into road resurfacing, including Eagleson, Cockburn, Fallowfield, Murray, Hamilton, Twin Elm. Conley Road will be upgraded from gravel to paved surface Franktown Road to Mansfield Road at a cost of $1.15 million. The sidewalk on Manotick Main will see renewal work funded in 2024, and I am continuing to push staff to prioritize sidewalk expansions on Manotick Main and Church Street in North Gower. Our ward’s temporary traffic calming budget is increasing to $75,000 for measures to address speeding in our communities.
$141,000 will be invested into renewal work at Richmond Arena and Community Centre, including replacement of changeroom ventilation system and repainting of metal siding. $550,000 is being invested into the replacement of asphalt and posts on the tennis courts at Alfred Taylor Park, and an additional $1 million is being invested into the Alfred Taylor Skate Park. $70,000 is being put toward upgrades at the Kars Rink. Thanks to the continued leadership and advocacy of the Manotick Culture, Parks & Recreation Association, an additional $30,000 was added by the City to the Centennial Park Phase 2 project, bringing the total combined investment from the community, the federal government, the province, and the City to over $850,000.
Taken together, these and other investments being made are positive for our communities.
Even so, I believe that the City can deliver better value for money and more of our local priorities can be better reflected in the budget.
My view is that there is a considerable amount of waste within the City. I am in regular contact with the Mayor and my Council colleagues about opportunities to realize structural savings in future budgets, savings that can keep property taxes low and savings that can be reinvested in into our communities. I plan to have more to say on this soon.
I also intend to move a number of motions to support other investments to our communities. I will be requesting that a truck route review receive funding, as this is a necessary measure for removing trucks from Manotick. I will be requesting money to advance the priority of realigning the skewed intersection of Shea and Flewellyn. Also on Shea, I will be requesting funding to clear out the backlog of traffic management infrastructure so that the stoplight on Perth and Shea can be advanced.
I will be suggesting program changes, including for automated speed enforcement cameras. The goal of these changes will be to improve automated speed enforcement at the approaches to our rural villages. Additionally, I will be pushing to ensure that the camera planned for Bridge Street by the school receives funding in the 2024 budget.
Other proposed program changes include an improved timeline for delivering a new solution for waste management and a new approach for funding infrastructure investments in Rural Ottawa that will improve the speed at which our roads are fixed and upgraded.
I will admit that I am limited in my authority to accomplish these items; it requires the support of my Council colleagues, and many of them may not agree with these changes. Even so, I am fighting for them.
As always, I want to hear from you! Please email my office your budget ideas at ward21@ottawa.ca