Rather than follow through on a planned tax levy increase of 7.3 per cent in 2025, city council has tasked City of Greater Sudbury staff with tabling an increase of no greater than 4.9 per cent.
To accomplish this goal, staff will need to cut approximately $8.5 million from next year’s budget.
Mayor Paul Lefebvre tabled a successful motion to this effect during Wednesday’s finance and administration committee meeting of city council.
“We knew when we concluded the budget exercise of 2024 that we’d be revising this,” he told his colleagues, citing last year’s budget deliberations which encompassed 2024 and 2025 operational budgets and concluded with tax levy increases of a respective 5.9 per cent and 7.3 per cent.
The 4.9-per-cent tax levy increase includes a 1.5-per-cent special capital levy to tackle infrastructure slated to bring in $86 million after five years (if 1.5-per-cent annual increases are maintained), and $375 million after 10 years.
“This will require a lot of work on our part to find the efficiencies and savings that we will need, but it needs to be done,” Lefebvre said. “We all knew that 7.3 (per cent) was not acceptable.”
Options will be presented to city council, and voted on in December.
Outside boards, such as the library and Greater Sudbury Police Service, will be asked to limit their increases to 3.4 per cent, which is the city’s proposed tax levy increase goal for 2025 (the 1.5-per-cent special capital levy brings it up to 4.9 per cent).
In recent years, GSPS has exceeded the city’s requested limits, and have already tabled a 6.2-per-cent budget increase for 2025.
City council requesting staff make unspecified budget cuts to achieve a lower tax levy increase has become common practice in recent years.
Last year, staff found $10.5 million in cuts to bring in annual tax levy increases of no greater than 4.7 per cent. This was done by doing such things as leaving vacated positions open (called vacancy management) and baking less wiggle room into certain budgets, such as winter control (snow plowing, removal and other winter road maintenance efforts). This budget cut doesn’t mean less snow plowing will take place, but that its budgeted amount might be off by a greater degree. Bus fares were increased by 50 cents, and the city pulled $300,000 from homelessness services toward lowering the tax increase.
For 2023 budget deliberations, city council asked staff to cut $17.8 million from the city’s base budget to hit a desired maximum tax increase of 3.7 per cent. Vacancy management, reducing contributions to reserves, cost adjustments and other financial manoeuvring allowed the city to hit this goal.
Financial exercises such as these make for a “short-term view,” city CAO Ed Archer cautioned city council during 2023 budget deliberations, noting that cuts such as these increase risk and “reduces your flexibility in the future to take advantage of opportunities that come up,” such as funding opportunities from senior levels of government.
Although city council is aiming for a 4.9-per-cent overall tax levy increase, it will end up varying depending on property type once the tax plan rolls out next year.
This year, for example, the overall 5.9-per-cent tax levy increase for 2024 ended up translating into a 5.4-per-cent tax hike for residential properties (with some variance depending on area ratings).
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
