Mayor Cam Guthrie is hopeful he has reason to reopen the city's multi-year budget, which was recently finalized with an 8.52 per cent property tax increase for 2024, followed by similar increases in subsequent years.
He’d like to lessen those jumps, but he’s depending on provincial dollars to provide the means to do it.
“If we do not need to collect a dollar from the taxpayers, I would reopen the budget,” said Guthrie, noting he’s already shared that intent with city staff. “I never, ever want to take more money than is necessary for the budgets. It’s not our money to begin with.
“That’s where the bottom line is, it’s at the doorstep of the taxpayers of Guelph.”
Last week, the provincial housing minister announced plans to cancel select municipal audits of the financial impact of legislative changes on Ontario cities. Guelph wasn’t among them.
Instead, Paul Calandra declared his government would consult municipalities on their ability to fund growth-related infrastructure, including a review of reduced development charges municipalities can collect from builders as well as a fee refund policy.
“Looking ahead, we’ll continue to work with our municipal partners to ensure that they have the tools and revenue streams needed to get shovels in the ground,” the housing minister said in a news release. “As we do, we need the federal government to be a willing and able partner in supporting our province’s growth.”
City staff have projected losses of $227 million in development charges, parkland fees and others over the next 10 years as a result of provincial legislation passed in the past year – money that would have been collected for new builds to help cover the cost of infrastructure and expanding city services to new residents.
Soon after those legislative changes were announced, provincial officials stated municipalities would be made financially “whole” but that hasn’t happened.
Guthrie has his fingers crossed that will change before the first round of new property tax bills go out in April.
“I have been hammering the province, as respectfully as possible, to remind them any chance I could get,” said Guthrie. “They need to follow through on that promise.”
Municipal consultations are slated to begin in January, the mayor said.
“My hope is that the minister would table some type of legislation with regard to this issue in February,” he said.
If that happens and the review results in additional funding for the city, Guthrie plans to “immediately” reopen the budget to “pass those potential savings along” to taxpayers.
“It’s always better to leave somebody else’s earned dollars in their own pocket than for government to hold onto it for a year and potentially say at the end of it, ‘oh, we have a surplus,” the mayor said. “That money is the taxpayers’, it’s not the government’s.”
In a report released late last week, city officials projected a $5.1 million surplus by year-end (based on data from the end of September).
Much of that was preemptively applied to the 2024 budget, Guthrie said, pointing to the use of reserves to fund the city’s $750,000 contribution to expansion at Guelph General Hospital, as well as other efforts.
“These were calculated risk opportunities, there was some thought around this,” he explained.
In the staff report, the recommendation to council is that the surplus, if realized, be allocated to replenish those reserve funds.
