Peterborough City Council passed the 2024 budget during a Council meeting on December 11th and with it a 7% increase to the property tax rate – down from the 9.59% in the original draft budget presented by Staff at the beginning of November. 

This increase will cost property owners $1865.17 per $100,000 of assessed value, representing an increase of $122 over 2023.

During the budget deliberation process, Council made few cuts to the budget as initially introduced, with savings coming from the decision to draw $800,000 from the City’s legacy fund and a further $200,000 from the casino gaming reserve. 

Additionally, Councillors voted in favour of increasing the industrial and commercial tax ratios from 1.5 to 1.65 times that of the residential rate, thereby shifting $3,000,000 of net tax requirements from residential taxpayers.

With these decisions, the net tax levy increase was reduced to 7.38% at the end of Finance Committee Meetings on November 22nd.  

However, the choice to shift commercial and residential ratios was met with criticism by the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce. 

“​Increasing the tax ratio for commercial and industrial properties does not save money, increase revenue, or reduce taxes — it merely shifts who pays more taxes,” reads a November 28th news release from the Chamber which was delivered to Mayor Leal on November 30th. 

The chamber primarily expresses frustration at the lack of consultation with the business community but instead “appears to have been made on a whim” while the original recommendation from staff was to maintain the current ratio. 

In a letter provided to Arthur, Leal responded to Chamber President and CEO, Sarah Budd, noting the degree of consultation with the business community since 2008 to reduce the commercial and industrial rate to 1.5. 

Despite this, Leal notes that he has “yet to discover any consultation with citizens of our community who had to absorb $20 million in new tax burden.”

“Before making decisions, I like to see data and evidence,” Leal wrote, calling this a “modest change” and outlining the fact that Peterborough remains in the lower half of similarly sized municipalities. His letter also explains the main drivers of the tax increase which include double digit increases to Police Services and Public Health, and ends with Leal wishing Budd and the Chamber’s membership “Happy Holidays and all the best in 2024.”

The final .38% reduction in the tax increase came during the Council meeting of December 11th with Councillor Keith Riel introducing motions to increase transit fares from $2.75 to $3.00, estimated to generate $100,000 in extra revenue for the city in 2024; introducing the deferral of an environmental assessment for a construction project on Sherbrooke Street for a savings of $150,000 in 2024 and further suggesting the City draw an additional $510,000 from the Legacy Fund created through the sale of Peterborough Distribution Inc.

The combined changes to the Budget through the deliberation process reduced the Net Tax Levy requirement by $1,845,500 which resulted in the 7% tax rate increase.

Staff had estimated the Legacy Account to generate $1.7M in investment income through Legacy Fund investments in 2024 and Riel’s motion means that the Fund leaves just under $1M in the income reserve, according to Yvette Peplinskie, the City’s Financial Services Director.

During discussion on these measures, specifically on the subject of transit ridership in the City, Councillor Jor Lachica noted that she was “impressed with the creativity and how important it is to look at our ridership.”

“If we do raise our fares slightly to increase this revenue stream, I think it will be a big help,” she added. “I think we have a balance and because of the creativity around the table about transit, our focus on mode-share, and getting people in buses and  fewer people in their cars. Let’s continue this good work.”

Chair of Finance Committee, Andrew Beamer, reflected on the nature of this budget as a “course correction” born out of years of tax increased below inflation. 

“Over the past 10 years between 2014 and 2023, the average tax increase in Peterborough has been 2.8%,” Beamer told his fellow Councillors. “This is relatively low and lower than comparable municipalities. That's a decade of tax increases at or below inflation. On one hand, Council did a great job of keeping taxes low – fighting for the taxpayers and being mindful of the taxpayers ability to pay.”

However, he went on to outline the reality that the City continues to deal with significant challenges, especially regarding infrastructure, homelessness, roads, and community safety. 

“We do need to make key strategic improvements in the community to ensure we're not falling behind. And we're moving forward,” Beamer said, before reminding everyone that a major driver of this tax increase is the $4.6M, or 15.3%, increase to the Peterborough Police Budget. 

“That's a huge increase. And to be honest, that's what's driving the overall budget. For such a large police budget increase we need to see action and results in the police have started to deliver,” he said.

Under the newly granted Strong Mayor Powers, the budget had to be presented to Council according to Provincial legislation as Mayor Leal’s budget. Throughout the process, however, Leal was adamant that any budget brought forward would only nominally be his and would be reflective of the consensus and work of the entire Council. 

Therefore, the 2024 Peterborough City Budget was deemed adopted following Council’s unanimous decision to forgo the 30 day period during which they could bring forward amendments under Strong Mayor Legislation. 

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This article has been updated to accurately reflect the amount being drawn from the legacy account by Councillor Riel's Motion. The proper amount is $510,000 not $260,000 as previously reported.