City Council has thirty hours set aside over the next three days to go through the 2023 budget. This is the second year of a two-year budget process, so the preliminary budget was approved last November.

Chief Financial Officer, Clae Hack, says the City moved to a multi-year budget to better align longer term strategic plans. The multi-year plan has also created thousands of hours of efficiency internally, which means more time for staff to work on other projects. Hack notes that originally there were thoughts of having a four-year cycle, but Council decided earlier this year to stick with two years, because it is difficult to extrapolate what will be happening in the world that far in the future.

He gives the recent examples of the pandemic and the higher than expected cost of living increases. The budget for 2023 includes $10-million in one-time funding to help with costs related to the pandemic, but it will be the final year for the funding. Hack expects the full implications of the pandemic will be felt in 2024, when the City no longer has access to this one-time funding.

At this point, the budget includes a 4.38 per cent property tax increase. That’s after some adjustments from Administration. The preliminary budget approved last year included a 3.53 per cent property tax increase.