Your tax dollars go toward City services and infrastructure such as:

  • plowing roads, paths and sidewalks in the winter
  • collecting garbage and maintaining the landfill
  • picking up and processing recyclable items from your blue boxes
  • building and operating the sanitary sewer and sewage treatment systems to protect public health and the environment
  • providing social services
  • supporting affordable housing
  • running recreation programs
  • implementing sustainability initiatives
  • Peterborough Transit
  • Peterborough Police Service, Peterborough Fire Services, and Peterborough Paramedics

Every day, you use community services or infrastructure in some way.

Through direction provided by City Council, the City drafts a budget that reflects community priorities, expected service levels and legislated responsibilities.

The Draft 2024 Budget includes $359 million in spending on municipal services and $128.2 million in capital investments.

Draft 2024 Budget Book

2023 Budget
 2022 Budget

Council approved the City's 2022 Budget on Monday, December 13, 2021.

Breakdown of what a residential taxpayer pays (Draft 2024 Budget)

 What a typical residential taxpayer pays for municipal services (Draft 2024 Budget)

What a residential taxpayer pays for municipal services

Based on $100,000 of residential property assessment

Services and programsTaxesPercentage of total municipal portion
City Council $6.93 0.45%

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer

$5.05 0.33% 
People and Culture $14.79 0.96%
Financial Services $18.50 1.2% 
Strategic Communications and Service Peterborough $7.61 0.49%
Facilities and Property Management $15.58 1.01%
Corporate Information Services $34.79 2.25%
Emergency Management $4.60 0.3% 
Materials Management $4.45 0.29% 
City Clerk $9.08 0.59%
Court Services -$0.69 -0.04%
Municipal Law Enforcement $10.35 0.67%
Realty Services $1.29 0.08%
Legal Services $7.05 0.46%
Office of Infrastructure, Planning and Growth Management Commissioner $1.87 0.12% 
Engineering and Capital Works $30.88 2%
Asset Management and Capital Planning $16.60 1.08%
Planning, Development and Urban Design $19.07 1.23%
Building Inspection and Protective Services $0 0% 
Office of the Commissioner Municipal Operations $2.26 0.15% 
Public Works $77.31 5.01% 
Transit $107.79 6.98% 
Environmental Services $64.30 4.16% 
Peterborough Airport $18.46 1.2% 
Community Services Administration $17.68 1.15% 
Arts and Culture $14.49 0.94% 
Recreation and Parks $44.71 2.9% 
Fire Services $152.29 9.86% 
Peterborough Public Library $29.98 1.94% 
Social Services $99.62 6.45% 
Capital Financing Costs $283.69 18.37% 
Property Taxation Costs $18.92 1.23% 
Other Revenue and Expenditures $24.39 1.58%
Police Services $279.63 18.11%
Fairhaven long-term care $12.94 0.84% 
Peterborough Paramedics $50.87 3.29% 
Otonabee Conservation $6.82 0.44% 
Peterborough Public Health $14.20 0.92% 
Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development $9.89 0.64% 
Peterborough Humane Society $3.64 0.24% 
Greater Peterborough Innovation Cluster $1.17 0.08%
Downtown Business Improvement Area $1.42 0.09% 
Total municipal property taxes per $100,000 of residential property assessment $1,544.29 100%

Online property tax calculator

Use our online property tax calculator to see a breakdown of your residential property taxes and where your tax dollars go. The calculator shows 2023 property tax amounts and the 2023 breakdown of where tax dollars go. Properties with commercial or other tax class components will get inaccurate results using this calculator.

Use our online property tax calculator

Every year, there are more capital projects and required infrastructure work that are needed than can be funded through the available capital budget. Even with help from the province and federal government, many projects that are needed or wanted are delayed to fit infrastructure spending within the available budget.

 20 largest 2024 capital projects (Draft 2024 Budget)
 
20 largest 2024 capital projects
Project description2024 amountTotal project cost (including previously budgeted amount and estimated future allocations)
New Arena and Aquatics Complex $24 million  $118.52 million (estimate includes aquatics complex portion of the project, which has not yet been approved to proceed)
Brealey Drive - Lansdowne Street to Sherbrooke Street $9.42 million  $20.673 million
Pavement preservation program $5.5 million  $50.85 million 
Fleet replacement and equipment $5.2 million  $25.5 million
Replace digester #1 and #2 $5 million  $17.5 million
Effluent disinfection revitalization and expansion $5 million  $32.75 million 
Lansdowne Street rehabilitation - Park Street to Otonabee River $4.05 million $32.175 million
Healthy Planet Arena replace refrigeration plant, (2) Ice $3 million  $5.928 million
Septage receiving replacement $2.9 million  $8.7 million 
Eastern trunk sewer $2.75 million  $6 million 
Curtis Creek watershed improvements $2.66 million  $36.9 million 
Peterborough Landfill Site $2.61 million  $32.654 million
Transit garage replacement $2.5 million  $62.75 million 
Downtown street surface repairs $2.3 million  $2.3 million 
Property acquisitions $2.2 million  $16.09 million
Bonnerworth Park redevelopment project $2.035 million  $4.425 million 
Sanitary sewer (relining, renew, and repair) $1.75 million  $24.578 million 
Source Separated Organics Program implementation $1.7 million  $23.889 million
2024 PW Sidewalk Reconstruction $1.53 million $5.947 million
Various Police Capital Projects 2024 $1.5 million $9.044 million

Purchasing

The City of Peterborough abides by our Procurement By-Law when we procure goods and services. Our bids and tenders process complies with this by-law.