2023 Budget

On February 14, 2023, Burlington City Council has approved the city’s 2023 budget, focused on planning ahead and protecting our city’s future.

As Burlington continues to grow, the 2023 budget will make key investments to ensure our City services, amenities and infrastructure keep pace with the changing needs of the community and address the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key investment priorities include:

• Enhancing frontline service delivery with additional transit operators, firefighters, and bylaw and animal services staff to respond to your concerns
• Funding for two new community centres – Skyway Community Centre located at 129 Kenwood Ave. and the former Robert Bateman High School at 5151 New St.
• $72.6 million of capital investment in 2023 to keep our infrastructure assets like buildings, roads and parks in a state of good repair.
• New funding dedicated to cycling infrastructure
• New automated speed reduction program to help address local traffic concerns
• Free transit for youth (ages 13-19) on evenings and weekends

The property tax bill is made up of three portions, the City of Burlington (48.9%), Halton Region (33.4%), and the Boards of Education (17.7%). The overall tax increase is 7.52 per cent.

A copy of the approved budget book for 2023 will be available online at burlington.ca/budget.

The Jan 19th Budget Town Hall recording is now available. It can also be found on this page in the document library. To enable the closed captioning, hover over the video and select the CC icon.

Thanks to everyone that attended the virtual 2023 Budget Town Hall on Jan. 19. We couldn't get to all the questions during the event, so we have answered some of the more common questions below. The recording of the budget meeting will be posted in the coming days and we will do our best to answer the other outstanding questions.

Why is the 2023 proposed tax increase so high?
The budget process is one of the most important exercises the city undertakes each year.

Through this process, our goal is to maintain an appropriate balance between affordability, service levels and financial sustainability. For the 2023 Budget, this task is challenging. The City budget is facing a number of pressures:

• Almost three years of COVID-19 impacts have meant revenue losses and increased expenses. COVID has changed people’s spending behaviours and their use of certain city programs
• Higher than average inflation which has led to increasing costs to maintain services to the community
• Aging infrastructure - our city has not kept pace with investing in the services and amenities that our growing community needs like community centres, and ensuring our infrastructure is in a state of good repair for things like our roads, buildings and transportation.

What am I getting for the increase in my taxes?
To address these pressures, the 2023 Budget will require the City to make key community investments for much needed improvements the community has been asking for, including:

• New state of the art Skyway Community Centre
• Redevelopment of former Robert Bateman High School into a vital community hub
• More City staff to meet the needs of our growing city in bylaw enforcement, transit, animal services, and fire fighting

The proposed increase will be a financial challenge for me/my household.
The proposed tax increase is certainly higher than what we are used to seeing or what we would like to see. The size of the increase this proposed budget is presenting to the community is not lost on me or any of the City staff that have helped prepare this budget. We’re in a challenging place and further delaying these much-needed investments will only be a disservice to the community. Pushing these items down the road will only end up costing the community more as the price of things like construction and labour continue to go up.

While the budget presents a big challenge, it also presents a great opportunity to make our city better by making the investments the community needs and has been asking for. This budget is about protecting and improving the future of our growing city.

The City of Burlington's Low-Income Seniors Property Tax Rebate Program offers a $550 rebate to eligible seniors on their property taxes. This amount was increased in 2021 and is the highest among the three municipalities in Halton that offer a rebate.

To qualify, you or your spouse must meet all of the following requirements:

• Be at least 65 years old as of Jan. 1
• Be the assessed owner and occupant of a residential property in the City of Burlington for at least one year preceding the application
• Have received your Guaranteed Income Supplement (pursuant to the Old Age Security Act)
• Have paid property taxes in full, excluding the applicable rebate

More information is available on burlington.ca/propertytax.

Halton Region also offers the Older Adult Property Tax Deferral Program. More information is available online: Older Adults Property Tax Deferral Program - City of Burlington

How can I share my feedback with Council?
We know our citizens expect us to maintain a high quality of services as our city continues to grow and evolve and we want everyone to share their feedback with us, so we can continue to deliver on their expectations.

In the coming weeks, City Council will be reviewing the proposed budget on Feb. 6, 7 and 9, starting at 9:30 a.m. There will be opportunities to speak to Council at these meetings and members of the public that would like to delegate can register by calling 905-335-7777, ext. 7481 or visiting burlington.ca/delegation. The deadline to register is Feb. 3, 2023.

Why don’t you delay infrastructure improvements and compare our priorities with our neighbouring municipalities?
Every municipality has different priorities that are unique and specific to the needs of their community and residents.

Delaying infrastructure improvements is not good practice or prudent financing, as costs can increase, and scope of required repair can expand with each delay. Keeping infrastructure in a state of good repair and in a timely manner ensures the public’s safety, reduces the chance of emergency shut downs and helps to avoid costly repairs in the future.

On Monday, Feb. 6, Tuesday, Feb. 7 and Thursday, Feb. 9, starting at 9:30 a.m., members of City Council will review and approve the City’s proposed 2023 budget at a meeting of the Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability Committee.

Members of the public may register to speak to City Council at the Feb. 6 meeting by calling 905-335-7777, ext. 7481 or visiting burlington.ca/delegation. The deadline to register is noon on Feb. 3, 2023.

The City of Burlington is committed to greater government accountability and financial transparency. This open budget application is designed to display the city's budget data in an accessible, easy-to-understand format using charts, tables and graphs.

Take a look around.

Join Mayor Meed Ward to discuss the proposed 2023 budget, participate in live polling and take questions from residents. 7:00- 8:30 p.m.

Zoom Details:

Use this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83320518342?pwd=ellMbnV5dDZqWTF1Ni9hNEZadm9WUT09

Passcode: nen8rW

or Phone in:

1 689 278 1000

Passcode: 418624

Webinar ID: 833 2051 8342

The proposed 2023 budget is focused on planning ahead and protecting our city’s future.

In presenting the proposed budget, City Manager Tim Commisso and Chief Financial Officer Joan Ford are advising Council that we need to make key community investments now that improve service to residents. While our community continues to grow, our investments in enhancing City services and amenities have not kept pace. We need to maintain and repair city infrastructure. For key services like bylaw enforcement, we are simply not meeting community expectations. The time is now to invest in needed improvements. The 2023 and 2024 budget will both be “catch-up” budgets. This will enable the city to make investments that protect and improve our future.

The proposed 2023 budget recommends an overall tax increase of 7.08% (including Region of Halton and Boards of Education). Of the 7.08% increase to the property tax bill, Burlington’s portion of the overall increase is 5.90%.

On Monday, Jan. 9 at 9:30 a.m., City staff will present the 2023 Budget Overview Report (F-01-23) to the Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability Committee of Burlington City Council. A copy of the report and more information is available on this page in the document library.

Budget pressures

The 2023 and 2024 budgets will both be challenging.

Today in Burlington, almost three years of COVID-19 impacts have meant revenue losses and increased expenses. Our city has not kept pace with investing in the services and amenities that our growing community needs. This means we need more amenities like community centres to support our residents. The city must continue to invest in our infrastructure such as our roads, buildings and transit busses. Many people feel this impact every day.

Provincial legislative changes (Bill 23) will download the costs of growth to Burlington. This new provincial legislation reduces the City’s ability to collect fees from developers for future growth-related capital costs such as parkland, roads, transit and recreation facilities.

The 2023 proposed budget before City Council will:

• maintain service levels while recognizing higher than average inflation
• address the continued financial impacts of COVID-19
• dedicate funding to ensure our $5.2 billion of assets are maintained in a state of good repair
• include community investments for the next 50 years such as two new community centers planned to open over the next few years
• stabilize and enhance city services and address the immediate need for an updated non-union compensation program that keeps salaries market competitive
• provide more city services to residents and businesses online digitally

The 2023 proposed budget also directly addresses feedback heard from residents. This includes the need for more bylaw enforcement staff, more animal services staff and education to support our coyote management strategy. It also includes automated speed enforcement to deal with local traffic concerns, additional firefighters and more transit operators. There are key investments in these areas, among others, to better service residents. Learn more at burlington.ca/budget.

Opportunities for public engagement

Members of the public can learn more about the proposed 2023 budget and share their feedback in the following ways:

• Join the virtual 2023 Budget Town Hall, hosted by Mayor Marianne Meed Ward on Thursday, Jan. 19, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Visit getinvolvedburlington.ca to join in and watch the meeting on Jan. 19, or in advance to submit your question.
• Register to speak to City Council at the Feb. 6 meeting of the Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability Committee where the proposed budget will be reviewed, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Members of the public who would like to speak at the meeting as a delegation can register by calling 905-335-7777, ext. 7481 or visiting burlington.ca/delegation. The deadline to register is noon on Feb. 3, 2023.

Key dates and milestones for the 2023 Budget

City meetings for the 2023 Budget are scheduled on the following dates at City Hall in Council Chambers, located at 426 Brant St., second floor. All meetings are hybrid and may be attended in person or watched by livestream online at burlington.ca/calendar.