Shifting stormwater protection funding from the City of Peterborough’s tax base to a dedicated user fee is one of the options city council will consider in an effort to reduce the proposed property tax increase in the city’s 2025 draft budget to 6.6 per cent.
When it meets as general committee on Monday (January 20), council will review a report from finance and corporate support services commissioner Richard Freymond with proposed options to reduce the 2025 draft budget by almost $5.7 million, which would reduce the proposed 2025 tax increase to 6.6 per cent.
In November, council directed staff to provide options to reduce the property tax increase — which currently sits at eight per cent (9.27 per cent including the budget requests from police, paramedics, and public health) — to seven per cent through a combination of additional savings and increased revenue.
Freymond’s report proposes options for savings and revenue that amount to $5,627,255.
Of that total, almost 77 per cent of the savings — $4.34 million — would come by removing stormwater protection funding from the municipal tax base. Of the $4.34 million, $3.72 million would be converted to a user fee and the 2025 incremental amount of $620,000 for stormwater funding would be forfeited from both the tax base and the user fee.
While the city already charges user fees for water services and sanitary sewer infrastructure, unlike many other Ontario municipalities, Peterborough currently funds stormwater protection through the tax base.
Although transitioning to a stormwater user fee would reduce the 2025 draft budget by $4.34 million, it would not reduce costs for property owners, whether residents and businesses. According to the report, residents would begin paying an interim user fee as of April 1, 2025 that is estimated at $32.70 per year for each $100,000 of residential assessment (for example, $130.80 per year for a property assessed at $400,000).
“The fee essentially mimics what is being paid by property owners through the tax base but removes the levy requirement from the tax base and places the charge on the utility bill,” reads the report.
The remaining $1,332,255 identified in Freymond’s report is a combination of budget reductions along with some revenue increases.
The Peterborough Police Service has reduced its budget request from an increase of 8.8 per cent to 7.8 per cent, resulting in savings of $350,822, by reducing total compensation and non-personnel costs.
The Peterborough County-City Paramedics has reduced its budget request by two per cent, or $160,291, by deferring the hiring of four new paramedics until the second quarter of 2025.
For Peterborough Public Health, which has now merged with the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit to form the Haliburton Kawartha Northumberland Peterborough Health Unit, the city is allocating $36,771 instead of the requested $220,620, saving $183,849, in recognition that the new board of health will be presenting a new budget to city council at a future date.
The city will be reducing the net tax levy requirement by $210,000 after receiving final assessments for the 2025 taxation year in late November from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). The city is also reducing its 2025 insurance renewal budget by $115,000, reflecting a lower-than-expected increase in premiums.
In addition to the above changes, city staff have proposed additional savings and revenue increases, listed below, which amount to $312,293.
- Reducing Peterborough Transit operating expenses for cleaning supplies and contractual services by $75,000
- Reducing Public Works operating expense budgets for graffiti management, forestry, contractual services, and street cleaning expenses by $60,000
- Reducing the budget for Municipal Law Enforcement Services by $52,000 by deferring the purchase of one vehicle and modifications
- Increasing parking revenue by $50,000 by eliminating one-hour free parking at the Simcoe Street and King Street parking garages
- Increasing swimming lessons revenue by $30,000 to reflect actual revenues in 2023 and 2024
- Increasing revenue for sport diamond and field rentals by $20,000 by increasing user fees
- Reducing the corporate training budget by $14,648
- Eliminating the community grant of $7,645 for Peterborough Aids Resource Network (PARN) which, according to the report, has voluntarily agreed to forgo funding
- Increasing revenue for asset management and capital planning by $3,000
Final approval of the city’s 2025 draft budget is anticipated to take place on Monday, February 3.
