City of Kawartha Lakes residents will see a total property tax hike of 6.7 per cent next year with the adoption of Mayor Doug Elmslie’s 2025 budget at a special council meeting on Tuesday (November 26).
The 6.7 per cent increase includes a three per cent increase to the municipality’s general operating budget, a 2.2 per cent increase for police services, and a 1.5 per cent increase for capital spending. For property owners, this translates to an annual tax increase of about $158 based on a home assessed at $264,000.
This was the first budget for the City of Kawartha Lakes that fully incorporated “strong mayor” powers under provincial legislation. In June 2023, the Ontario government passed the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act to give 26 fast-growing Ontario municipalities strong mayor powers, later expanding these powers in October 2023 to include 46 municipalities.
Under the strong mayor powers, a mayor is required to present a draft budget followed by a 30-day review period where councillors can propose amendments, with the mayor having 10 days after the end of the review period to veto any amendments. Within 15 days after that, council can override the mayor’s veto of any amendment with a two-thirds majority.
Mayor Elmslie said he chose to go “above and beyond” the requirements of the legislation by establishing a budget committee of three councillors: deputy mayor and Ward 7 councillor Charlie McDonald as chair along with Ward 4 councillor Dan Joyce and Ward 8 councillor Tracy Richardson. The budget committee worked with staff and held 17 open meetings with councillors to review the mayor’s proposed budget and discuss possible amendments, and there was also a special public meeting on November 12 where council heard delegations.
“We took the Mayor’s mandate, which was to follow the long-term plan, and listen to residents’ concerns,” McDonald said in a media release. “We added no new spending. We focused on the big picture for all of Kawartha Lakes. There were $8.8 million in reductions needed to meet the three per cent target (for the operating budget). Staff brought the reductions, and these were not easy decisions. We did our best and stuck to the plan.”
At Tuesday’s special council meeting, which ran for almost seven hours, councillors voted to accept two amendments that reduced the operating budget increase from 3.4 per cent to three per cent.
The first amendment was to add an additional unanticipated $427,000 funding from the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund into the budget, reducing the tax increase by 0.2 per cent. The second amendment was to change the funding structure for a fire services tanker truck that reduced the tax increase by another 0.2 per cent.
During the special council meeting, councillor Mike Perry proposed deferring a $400,000 expenditure in 2025 for the municipality to replace its existing websites. However, as this expenditure had already been approved by council in the fall as part of an “early start” special project to be included in the 2025 budget, and with the municipality already having signed contracts with a vendor, the mayor rejected the proposal and there was no motion on it.
Some of the budget highlights include a 2.2 per cent increase for police services to meet increasing demand, comply with with provincial requirements, and replace capital assets, as well as additional investments in fire and paramedic services, including the addition of four paramedics, a fire district chief, and an emergency manager.
The municipality will also be investing $15 million to create 65 new affordable housing units, as part of the municipality’s unmet pledge to create 542 units in 2024.
At Tuesday’s special council meeting, council also adopted the mayor’s $128 million capital budget, which is the largest capital budget in the municipality’s history.
Of the total capital budget, $60 million will be invested in “state of good repair” projects, including $5.2 million for resurfacing County Road 38 and 41, $4.8 million for replacing the Lake Dalrymple Bridge, $3 million for updating runways at the municipal airport, and $2.9 million for the ice pad system at the Emily-Omemee arena.
Expansionary capital projects will include $21.5 million for a new paramedics headquarters, $15 million for affordable housing developments in Fenelon Falls and Minden, $6.2 million to widen Colborne Street in Lindsay, $1.8 million to expand the Somerville Landfill, and $500,000 for parking, traffic flow improvements, and an outdoor ceremony space at city hall.
In addition to the tax-supported operating and capital budgets, the 2025 budget also included the water-wastewater capital and operating budgets (which includes a three per cent increase in water-wastewater user fees) and the special projects budget.
More information about the City of Kawartha Lakes 2025 budget is available at jumpinkawarthalakes.ca/2025budget.
