FAQs

Budget documents tell a city's financial story and set spending targets for municipal programs, services and initiatives. The Budget is an important element in the accountability cycle and provides a standard against which later performance can be judged.

A Capital Budget and Forecast is where the City plans for upcoming years and identifies how to pay for City infrastructure projects, such as road reconstruction, park improvements and public buildings

The City relies on several funding sources, some that occur each year and others that are one-time funds. These funding sources include:

• Charges levied against developers to cover the cost of new infrastructure in growth areas.
• Issuing of debt
• Senior government transfers, such as the federal Canadian Community Building Fund (federal gas tax) and the provincial gas tax
• Transfers from reserve funds
• Transfers from the Operating Budget

A capital project is a project that helps maintain or improve a City asset, often called infrastructure. It includes:

• Major maintenance or rehabilitation projects
• New construction, expansion, renovation or replacement projects for existing facilities
• Purchases of major equipment

Project costs can include:

• Architectural planning
• Contract services
• Cost of land
• Engineering

During the Capital Budget process, we consider:

• The city's Asset Management Plan
• Financing capabilities
• Community needs
• Council directions
• Goals outlined in the City's Strategic Plan

Along with input we receive from community consultation, staff develops a one-year Capital Budget and 10-year forecast. The City's Committee of the Whole then reviews the Budget and Council approves it.

The Operating Budget encapsulates the City's plans for day-to-day operations, including salaries, utilities and supplies to deliver City services.

The Operating Budget is mainly funded from property taxes, but it can also include revenues from:

• Earnings on our investments
• Senior government subsidies, such as the provincial gas tax
• User fees and charges, such as recreation fees, parking fines, business licences and building permits

Burlington City Council ultimately decides how taxes are spent, based on feedback from community stakeholders, including taxpayers, and recommendations from City staff. Most City taxes collected go to the Operating Budget (about 75 per cent). The rest go to the Capital Budget (about 25 per cent).

We collect property taxes on behalf of both Halton Region and the school boards. Of your property taxes, approximately 52 per cent funds City services, 33 per cent funds the Region and 15 per cent funds the school boards.

The City's share of taxes pays for municipal services, such as:

• Fire services
• Libraries
• Parks maintenance
• Public transit
• Recreation programs
• Snow removal

Halton Region's share of taxes pays for regional services, such as:

• Garbage and recycling collection and disposal
• Policing
• Public health and ambulance services
• Water and wastewater

The school boards' (educational) share of taxes is directed to:

• Halton District School Board
• Halton Catholic District School Board
• Conseil scolaire Viamonde (French public board)
• Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud (French Catholic board)

Provincial legislation dictates that municipal budgets in Ontario must be balanced annually. The City cannot budget for a surplus or deficit.
To ensure a municipality's long-term stability and protection against unforeseen circumstances (i.e., snowstorms, flooding, etc.), legislation allows municipalities to allocate surplus funds to reserve funds.

Depending on the stage in your life and your interests, you will use City services differently. Whether we use them or not, we all pay for the many services that the City must provide. If you don't drive a car, you still pay for roads. If you don't use our parks, a portion of your taxes are still used for their upkeep. If you do not have school-aged children, you still pay education taxes.

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assesses all properties in Ontario. The assessed value is based on valid property sales in your community. This method of assessment is called the Current Value Assessment. Visit MPAC's website for more information.

Learn about the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation's (MPAC) assessment update postponement.

As part of the Province of Ontario's Budget on March 24, 2021, the Minister of Finance announced the Province's decision to once again postpone a province-wide property assessment update due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Property assessments continue to be based on Jan. 1, 2016 current values.

To find out if your assessed value is accurate, simply ask yourself: could you have sold your property for its assessed value on Jan. 1, 2016? If the answer is yes, then your assessed value is probably correct.

Yes, you can get detailed information about your property and up to 24 additional properties of your choice, and up to six selected by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) at no cost.

Visit MPAC to learn how to compare property values or contact MPAC's customer service for more information.

As a general rule, if your percentage increase year over year is larger than the average municipal change, you may experience an increase due to the reassessment. If your percentage change is relatively close to the average, you may not experience an assessment-related tax increase or decrease. If your percentage change is less than the average, you may experience an assessment-related tax decrease.

You can simply calculate if you have had an assessment-related increase by multiplying your interim tax bill by two and comparing it to your prior year's total tax bill.

Your tax bill is determined by multiplying your assessment by the tax rates determined by the City, Halton Region and the Province of Ontario (education).

In June 2023, the Ontario government announced it was expanding strong mayor powers to the mayors of 26 municipalities, including Burlington. Under this legislation, it is the responsibility of the Mayor to propose the budget. The strong mayor powers became effective on July 1, 2023. Mayoral decisions made under the strong mayor powers are available to the public

We understand tax increases can be challenging and are committed to transparency in how your tax dollars are used. Below is a breakdown of the City’s tax increases between 2022 and 2025.

This chart illustrates some key facts about the City’s tax increases between 2022 and 2025.

The Total Base refers to the amount of money required to operate the City of Burlington exactly as it is today – maintaining current service levels and not including major repairs.

Between 2022 and 2025, the increase to the Total Base has aligned closely to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The four-year compounding total of the CPI is 15.56% and the four-year compounding total for the City’s Total Base is 17.18%.

Beyond the Total Base, there are other factors that drive city tax increases. These include:

• Investments in our aging infrastructure to make sure our assets do not deteriorate further. Each year, the city budgets for a 2% tax increase dedicated to an Infrastructure Renewal Levy. This helps to ensure the roads, bridges and sidewalks we rely on every day to get around safely remain in good condition.

A regular schedule of maintenance is important. Without it, we risk having vital assets out of commission and facing costly emergency fixes or replacements.

• Investments in enhancements of core services levels. Between 2022 and 2025, the City has enhanced services in some areas. These improvements are driven by community feedback asking for more services across several customer-facing areas such as transit, fire, forestry, bylaw enforcement, and new community amenities.

Looking at all of these factors together provides important historical context for tax increases between 2022 and 2025.

This chart also includes a line for the Municipal Price Index (MPI) – a measure used by the Town of Milton since 2008 to better reflect municipal-specific expenditures vs. the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Where the standard Consumer Price Index (CPI) can serve as a proxy for general inflation, it does not reflect the cost pressures unique to municipalities. CPI includes consumer expenditures such as housing, food, and personal transportation—items not typically purchased by municipalities. Conversely, the Municipal Price Index is based on a basket of goods and services more representative of municipal expenditures, such as asphalt and construction-related materials. The MPI is a helpful benchmark comparison.