On Monday, Nov. 18, council held a day-long special Budget Committee to review amendments to the mayor’s budget (released to the public on Oct. 25). Amendments from councillors either asked for budget items to be removed (saving money) or added (adding to the tax base).
Of the 22 amendments submitted, $100,000 was saved by taking funds out of reserves, $100,000 was added to the budget to maintain Burloak Waterfront park, and some other funds were shifted from one reserve fund to another. The mayor’s budget was essentially left intact.
At the brief Tuesday (Nov. 19) Council meeting, the budget committee amendments and other agenda items were all adopted. Below are some of those agenda items.
2025 Rates and Fees
The City of Burlington conducts an annual review of its user fees for various services. Council approved an increase in select 2025 Rates and Fees By-law that means an average increase of 3 per cent across most services. This increase aims to ensure cost recovery and minimize property tax increases, as user fees, licenses, fees and fines are projected to contribute 12% of the base budget revenues.
Development Charges
Bill 185, Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act gave municipalities the ability to amend the development charges (DC) background study to reinstate growth-related studies as an eligible service. The total gross capital costs of these studies in Burlington is $3.1 million. The city has a deadline of Dec. 6 to make any changes.
The amendment to add growth-related studies to recover the cost of these studies will increase the city’s DC charge by approximately 1.2 per cent. For example, this additional fee would add $243 for each new single-family home on top of the existing $20,595 in development fees.
Relocation of Burlington Transit Terminal
The Burlington Transit (BT) terminal building on John Street is now 37 years old and has served the public by providing information, directions, sales of tickets, passes and Presto cards. Following council’s decision, the facility will move to the Burlington GO station on Fairview street in early 2025 at a cost of $30,000.
Due to the age and design (lack of accessibility) of the minimally maintained building, public safety (post-closure of the public washrooms) and the fact that the area is no longer considered a Major Transit Station Area (MTSA), it was felt by city staff that a move to the Burlington GO station would serve the public better.
The John Street terminal will continue to be a connection point for 4 bus routes while the GO station hosts 8 of BT’s buses.
The 2024 operating budget for the John Street terminal budget is $341,000. This covers staffing, facility costs and contracted services.
However, not everyone thinks this is a good idea.
Representatives from Burlington For Accessible Sustainable Transit (BFAST) feel that the existing terminal serves the public well, especially seniors that will have to make their way to the GO station. Safety, a concern downtown may not be remedied at the Fairview station especially at night.
Terms of the lease agreement with Metrolinx were discussed in a Closed Session at the Nov. 4 committee of the whole meeting and have not been released to the public.
Pipeline to Permit Committee
The Pipeline to Permit (P2P) committee meets separately from other council committees with the mayor, councillors Kelvin Galbraith, Paul Sharman and Shawna Stolte, as well as city staff and development industry representatives sitting on it.
All items on the P2P committees agenda were adopted by council.
Items included: the sharing of building and by-law reports to convince the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) that what that entity considers the start of housing construction agrees with what Burlington feels is a building start, in order to access more provincial funding.
The city will continue to accept ‘Pay-on-Demand Surety Bonds’ in lieu of Letters of Credit from developers banks that developers feel are sometimes onerous. The approach allows the city to accept pay-on-demand surety bonds for a maximum of five (5) new site plan agreements. The city’s existing options of letters of credits and cash securities continue to be available.
This arrangement is unique in Ontario and, according to P2P member Mike Collins-Williams, of the West End Home Builders Association, is attracting positive attention from other jurisdictions and will help speed up residential construction.
Motion on bike lanes
At some council meetings a councillor or the mayor will introduce a last minute ‘motion’ for council to vote on. Such was the case at the Nov. 19 meeting when ward 3 councillor, Rory Nisan, introduced a motion to send a resolution letter to the Ontario Premier, Minster of Transportation, Burlington MPP and others “strongly opposing Bill 212 - Reducing Gridlock Saving Time Act 2024 in its current form”.
This is the pending legislation that requires municipalities to seek the province’s permission to build new bike lanes.
Council voted unanimously, to urge the “Province of Ontario to engage in comprehensive consultations with municipalities, transportation experts, and community stakeholders to ensure that provincial legislation supports, not supersedes, local government initiatives aimed at reducing gridlock and enhancing transportation efficiency”.
