Hello Neighbour,
I hope this message finds you and yours well. Today's update is all about this year's City budget, including how you can have your say and tell City Council what you think about the budget.
This year's budget process looks a little different from previous years. First, all budget information is available on online tables, so you don't have to download long PDF documents. Second, the budget has been tied to the five pillars of the City's Strategic Plan, to make sure we are funding and prioritizing the long-term goals we have set for Guelph. Lastly, all the budget information will be presented at one meeting on November 17th, and all the public delegations will be heard on one meeting on November 25th. Council will then deliberate and make a decision on December 2nd.
You can access the 2021 City Budget here: https://guelph.ca/city-hall/budget-and-finance/city-budget/2021-budget/. If you can, I highly recommend attending the public meeting at 9am on Tuesday November 17th and reading the 13 page staff report and the 5 page supplementary memo which presents the budget and highlights the changes from 2020 to 2021. If you can not attend the meeting on the 17th, the replay will be available here a couple of days after the meeting.
At a high level, you can see the proposed budget increases, broken down into each of the Pillars of the Strategic Budget in the table below. This will work out to a net levy impact of 3.52%, which has since been updated to 3.63% in the 5 page supplementary memo linked above.
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One thing to keep in mind is that if Council were to approve a property tax increase of 3.63%, it does not mean that your property taxes would go up by that much. The complete tax levy gets divided into residential, commercial and industrial properties, and each pays a different proportion of the levy. As well, your property value assessment impacts how much you will end up paying in property taxes.
In addition to the tax levy, Council is looking at fee increases for water, waste water and storm water. The table below presents the proposed increases, along with the estimated impact for the average residential property in 2021:
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You can find the above tables as well as the complete staff presentation that will be made to Council on Tuesday the 17th in this document.
I would love to hear from you anytime before December 2nd, with your thoughts and suggestions for the City budget. If you would like to see a lower tax increase, please let me know where we should reduce services or which City projects should be eliminated or postponed.
If you have general questions about the budget, I encourage you to attend the Ward 2 Town Hall this Wednesday November 18th at 7pm (details below), where we'll have someone from the City's finance team to answer your questions.
You can watch all Council meetings here: https://guelph.ca/live/
All Council meeting dates and agendas can be found here: http://guelph.ca/agenda
2021 Budget Dates:
- Tuesday November 17 @ 9am - 2021 budget presentation to Council
- Wednesday November 18 @ 7pm - Ward 2 Virtual Town Hall on the City Budget
- Your Ward 2 Councillors will be hosting this Virtual Town Hall and we'll have someone from the Finances team at the City present to answer your questions about the budget
- You can join by phone or via internet:
- Friday November 20 @ 10 am - Deadline to register as a delegate for the Budget Delegations meeting on November 25th
- Wednesday November 25 @ 6pm - Public Delegations for the 2021 Budget
- Tuesday December 1 @ 2pm - 2021 budget approval
- In this meeting City Council will deliberate on and approve the 2021 City budget. If we need more time, a second meeting will take place on Thursday December 3rd at 2pm.
That's it for the budget update. I did want to point out that there are a few engagement opportunities taking place in November and December, including a survey on voting methods that's currently open, and a panel discussion on remote voting methods on Wednesday November 18th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. You can watch that panel discussion at guelph.ca/live. Yes, this time unfortunately coincides with the Ward 2 Budget Town Hall, but it will be available as a replay which I look forward to watching after the budget process is complete. You can find all current engagement opportunities here: https://www.haveyoursay.guelph.ca/
If you have any questions or suggestions for the 2021 budget, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Warm regards,
Rodrigo
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