Council changes to the draft 2020 Budget

City Council will consider giving final approval to the City’s draft 2020 Budget at its meeting on Monday, January 27, 2020 after reviewing the financial plan during its committee meetings on January 13-16, 2020.

Council made a number of changes to the draft budget during its Finance Committee meetings, including putting $227,700 in the budget to maintain municipally operated child care centres after a reduction in provincial funding and investing $426,400 for climate change action.

The proposed all-inclusive (municipal, education and sewer surcharge) property tax increase now stands at 2.75% for 2020, which is $9.23 a month more than in 2019 for a residential property assessed at $260,000.

Council changes to the draft 2020 Budget
Change to the draft 2020 Budget	Tax levy requirement change	Impact on the all-inclusive tax rate for a typical residential property
Contribution to the Climate Change Action Plan Reserve	$426,400	0.25%
Adding a crossing guard at Monaghan Road and Hopkins Avenue	Funding already in budget	No impact
Changing the operating season for the Centennial Fountain from the current period of Victoria Day weekend to Thanksgiving weekend to a reduced period of Canada Day to Labour Day	Estimated savings of $40,000 from reduced operation of the Fountain to be transferred to the Climate Change Action Plan Reserve account.	No impact
Continuing to provide lifeguards at Rogers Cove and Beavermead Park beaches	$46,919	0.03%
Providing $280,000 in federal-provincial funding to support the creation of two affordable rental housing units at the Mount Community Centre and providing a refund of $51,000 for a portion of previously charged Building Permit fees	The $280,000 is funded through an agreement with the province and federal government. The $51,000 in permit fees are to be funded through the City’s Housing Partnership Reserve.	No impact
Adding $330,000 to keep open municipally operated child care centres and school age programs after a reduction in provincial funding for Children’s Services	Cost is shared between the City ($227,700) and County ($102,300) of Peterborough. The County share does not affect the City tax levy requirement.	$0.13%
Adding a Zoning Administrator position to review permit applications and assist with enquiries associated with work orders and violations	No impact – cost of position will be recovered through permit fees	No impact
Adding a Technologist/Inspector position in engineering to administer contracts and inspect work associated with implementing the Stormwater Quality Master Plan	No impact – funded from existing Capital Budgets	No impact
Adding two summer student positions – Lab Summer co-op for the Landfill and Enforcement summer co-op for effluent monitoring	No impact – funded from existing Sewer Surcharges and expected increased revenue from Industrial Waste Surcharge agreements	No impact

During the budget deliberations, Council also decided to use $35,000 from previously approved funding for the Municipal Cultural Plan for a one-time increase in funding for the Electric City Culture Council. The additional funding for the arts council would increase its funding to $85,000 in 2020.

There is another opportunity for people to present to Council on the draft 2020 Budget during the Council meeting on January 27, 2020.

Before putting together the draft 2020 Budget, Council led a series of five Budget Roadshow drop-in meetings between April and June 2019 and the City offered a survey on community priorities. Comments from the community on budget priorities, expected service levels, and legislated responsibilities were considered as the City prepared the draft 2020 Budget. The draft 2020 Budget was released for public review on Monday, December 9, 2019.

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For additional information, members of the media are invited to contact the undersigned:

Brendan Wedley, Manager of Communication Services

City of Peterborough

705-742-7777 ext. 1636