Friday, March 11, 2016
City of London
Multi-Year Budget for the City of London: Investing in Our Future
This document has been created to assist residents of London in understanding the decisions made throughout the City of London's first ever multi-year budget process which was approved by City Council on March 10, 2016.
For more information, please visit www.london.ca/budget and/or email budget@london.ca.
- On March 10, City Council approved an annual average 2.82% property tax increase from rates or $76 a year for the average homeowner (with an assessed value of $221,000) over the next four years
- The tax levy increase will address on-going municipal cost pressures and provide funding for initiatives and projects identified in City Council's new Strategic Plan
The multi-year budget will better align longer-term goals and objectives with longer-term funding plans; provide greater certainty to tax payers/residents about the future direction of their property taxes; and improved accountability and transparency over spending plan changes.
The multi-year budget supports new or enhanced initiatives under the four areas of strategic focus in Council's Strategic Plan:
Strengthening Our Community:
- Homelessness $3.8 million
- Poverty reduction $2.1 million
- By-law enforcement $1.1 million
- Winter maintenance on park pathways and Thames Valley Parkway $574,000
- Community grants $280,000
- Mental health $200,000
Growing Our Economy:
- Dundas Place (Flex Street) $15.6 million
- Regenerating public housing $750,000
- Back to the River Environmental Assessment $700,000
- City of London internship program $360,000
Building a Sustainable City:
- Rapid Transit $267.8 million (including senior government funding)
- Investment in infrastructure gap $6.8 million
- Urban Forestry Strategy $3.5 million
- Warranted sidewalk program $600,000
- Woodland management $200,000
Leading in Public Service:
- Service review savings $9.0 million
- Service London (enhancing and improving the delivery of customer services) $3.9 million
- Computerized maintenance management system $2.1 million
- Garbage collection (on-board weighing and tracking technologies) $150,000
Additionally, the multi-year budget supports ongoing operational investments in:
Culture:
- Two new libraries (northwest and northeast) $6.6 million
Parks and Recreation Services:
- Aquatics anchored multi-purpose recreation centre (East Lions Park) $7.8 million
- Arena anchored multi-purpose recreation centre (southeast) $27.1 million
- Lifecycle renewal for existing parks $9.6 million
Protective Services:
- New fire hall (southeast) $3.6 million
Social and health Services:
- Public housing major upgrades $8.8 million
Transportation Services:
- Widening Fanshawe Rd E (Adelaide St to Highbury Ave) $11.3 million
- Widening Western Rd (Platts Lane to Oxford St) $23.1 million
- Upgrades to Wilton Grove Rd (Commerce Rd to City limits) $12.6 million
- Widening Wharncliffe Rd (Becher St to Springbank Dr) $22.1 million
- Lifecycle renewal for roads and bridges (including below) $95.8 million
- Veterans Memorial Parkway (Oxford St to City limits)
- Huron St (Barker St to Sandford St)
- Fanshawe Rd E (Highbury Ave to Clarke Rd)
- Queens Bridge
- Replace transit buses $30.8 million
Corporate Services:
- Replace vehicles and equipment $19.0 million
Londoners got involved:
- 50 residents came out to participate in the City of London's annual 'Build a Budget' workshops
- 600 individuals visited the City of London's Interactive Bidget simulator at www.buildabudget.ca with approximately 200 of those visitors submitting responses
- Approximately 100 emails were to to budget@london.ca
- Residents visited members of Council and administration at 5 Open Houses (totaling 10 hours) to ask questions and provide their input
- Twitter - there were 721 tweets using the hashtag #LdnBudget that generated 2,326,739 impressions
- City Council added a 2nd Public Participation Meeting (PPM) which added another opportunity for individuals and community groups to provide thoughts and feedback
When will Council discuss the budget again?
An important element of the multi-year budget is the annual update process. Annual updates will provide Council the opportunity to adjust the budget to provide flexibility for special events or circumstances that require funding and resource adjustments. Commencing in 2017 and in each subsequent year of the multi-year budget, Council will have the opportunity to make changes to the budget.
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