Barrie city council approved a zero per cent increase on Wednesday to the city's operating budget for a third year. There is two per cent tacked on for the Infrastructure Investment Funding levy. The funding replaces and renews roads, stormwater infrastructure, and buildings.
Under Ontario’s Strong Mayor legislation, which came into effect in Barrie on July 1, 2023, the Mayor is to propose a budget to council before February 1st each year.
“This budget strikes a strong balance for taxpayers. Council and staff worked hard to deliver a budget that continues the zero per cent increase to ity operations, while going ahead with a robust infrastructure plan to support our growing city and ensuring we continue to deliver the core services our residents and businesses rely on every day,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall.
Highlights in the budget include:
- Completion of Fire Station 6
- Lakehead University STEM hub downtown
- Little Lake boardwalk and dock to allow for passive access to Little Lake for canoers and kayakers
- New park lighting and furniture at Ferndale Woods Park
- New sidewalks on Edgehill Drive
- New splash pad in Ward 7
- Recreation Centre in southeast Barrie
As part of the 2023 budget, council approved an annual 2 per cent contribution for the city’s Infrastructure Investment Funding (IIF) levy through 2025.
"The IIF allows the city to fix more infrastructure while significantly reducing debt and saving residents millions of dollars. The 2025 investment translates to an additional $99.88 annually for an average Barrie home," according to a media release from the city.
Examples of efficiencies and innovation at the city include:
- Bringing outdoor property maintenance in-house including grass cutting, snow clearing, window washing, and overall property appearance. This project resulted in $75,000 net cost savings as of February 2024 and $200,000 annual potential savings as well as increased service levels.
- Offering RecPASS Membership online allows participants to purchase their pass without going to city hall or lining up at a recreation centre. This service improvement saves approximately 500 hours of staff time per year and resulted in a 27 per cent increase in membership sales since implementation in September 2023.
- When Durham Region Transit lost some of its buses due to a fire, Barrie Transit agreed to trade three conventional buses for three cutaways which have been added to the city’s fleet to support the expansion of the Transit on Demand (ToD) service. This exchange avoided an estimated cost of $280,000 per new cutaway vehicle and a 12–16-month lead time for new cutaways.
The number crunching is not over. The city's service partners, Barrie Police Service, Barrie Public Library and the County of Simcoe, will present their budgets to council next month, and the total operating and capital budgets are expected to be approved by city councillors on Jan. 29, 2025.
The residential property tax bill is comprised of four parts:
- City Operations (make up 44 per cent of the 2025 Budget)
- City Capital (12 per cent) service partners, like the library, police and County of Simcoe (33 per cent) and education (11 per cent).
"Barrie city council has direct control over the city services portion of the budget. City council has limited influence over service partner spending requests, as these partners do not report directly to city council, but rather council has representation on the governance bodies they report to. City council has no influence over the education component of the budget as this is determined by the province," the city stated in its news release.
