Budget Committee

Adopt the 2026 Operating Budget including any approved budget amendments to be applied against the proposed net tax levy amount of $282,201,378.

Endorse that any surplus or deficit resulting from a difference between the actual results and the estimated 0.75% City portion of the net assessment growth be transferred to / from the Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve Fund; and Adopt the 2026 Capital Budget for the City of Burlington, with a gross amount of $106,112,127, as amended with a debenture requirement of $10,350,000 and the 2027-2035 capital forecast with a gross amount of $1,074,884,815 with a debenture requirement of $26,675,000 as outlined in the 2026 Budget Overview (FIN-42-25) and as amended by Council; and Administer the debenture in the amount of $6,350,000 in 2026 as tax supported debt; and Administer the debenture in the amount of $4,000,000 in 2026 as Multi- year Community Investment debt; and Declare that, in accordance with sis. 5(1)5 of the Development Charges Act, 1997 and sis. 5 of Ontario Regulation 82/98, it is Council’s clear intention that the excess capacity provided by the above-referenced works will be paid for by future development charges.

Engagement Enhancements (1) Remove from budget.

Engagement Enhancements (1) Remove $20,000 from Engagement Enhancements and fund it one time from the Special Council Initiatives Reserve Fund for a Fall post-election, non Budget related Telephone Town Hall for the purposes outlined in the Q and A document included under Item 8.1.

Engagement Enhancements (1) Remove requested funding for Seasonal Readiness campaign and fund within existing budgets.

Urban Forestry Master Plan (2) Remove the Urban Forestry Master Plan Implementation - continuing to close service level gaps in Key Investment.

Waste Management in Parks (3) Remove the Waste Management in Parks Key Investment.

Windrow Removal Program (4) Remove the Windrow Removal Program Service Level Improvements Key Investment.

Library Service and New Appleby Branch (5) Remove the Library Service and New Appleby Branch Key Investment.

Portfolio Manager (6) Remove Portfolio Manager Key Investment.

Portfolio Manager (6) Support Portfolio Manager as a one-year contract position funded from the Tax Stabilization Reserve.

Consulting Services (8) Remove the CAO Consulting Services within Corporate Affairs of $50,000.

Indigenous Advisor (9) Add $10,000 for Indigenous Peoples' Day programming through Recreation, Community and Culture.

Indigenous Advisor (9) Add $10,000 for Orange Shirt Day and National Truth and Reconciliation Day programming.

Transit Youth Capping Program (11) Extend the Youth Loyalty Program Pilot to March 2027 with one time funding of $70,000 funded through the Provincial Gas Tax.

Transit Fees (12) Eliminate the proposed transit rate increase and fund through increase in the transit budget

Transit Fees (12) Add an additional 25 cents to our transit fares to assist with cost recovery

Strategic Land Acquisition Fund (13) Increase the contribution by an additional $1.4M for 2026 bringing the total 2026 investment to $1.8M.

Corporate Reserves (14) Lower provisions to the Corporate Reserve Fund.

Debt Charges (15) Defer the final increased debt charges for Phase 1 of the Bateman: The 2026 Budget includes $300,000 in additional debt charges for Phase 1 renovations of the Bateman Community Centre. Following a review of existing debt charge budgets and in light of recent reductions in interest rates, these additional charges can be

Job Evaluation project 2027 (16) Defer funding for a union job evaluation project to 2027: In 2026, Human Resources will undertake a job evaluation project for two of the City’s unions, similar to the work completed for non-union staff in 2023-2024. This project will update the union compensation framework to ensure market competitiveness and support employee attraction and retention in a competitive labour market. Funding for this initiative is currently phased across 2026 and 2027. By deferring $300,000 to 2027, the project may continue in 2026, but any implementation costs would need to be absorbed through vacancy (gapping) savings.

Infrastructure Renewal Levy (17) Increase funding to the Infrastructure Renewal levy by $540,000.

Infrastructure Renewal Levy (17) Increase funding to the Infrastructure Renewal levy by $390,000.

AI Enabled Road Patrol Software Pilot (18) Utilize free trial and request in year funding through council.

City Benches (19) Pause the City Benches program for 2026.

Centennial Recreational Trail (20) Advance the 2028 Capital Levy amount to initiate design work in 2026.

Occupancy Sensor Replacement (21) Defer to 2027, Capital Reserve Funds.

Long Term Financial Plan - Update (22) Defer to 2027.

Suspend the rules for section 36.2 of the Procedure By-law 59-2024, as amended, to allow budget amendment #23 to be considered without notice, regarding approval of an upset limit of $75,000 to retain a consultant to assess the eligibility of additional properties for potential heritage designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, in consultation with the Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee, funded from the appropriate Reserve Fund.

Increase funding to Storm Water Infrastructure Renewal and Resiliency (RD-RL-1798) in 2026 by $390,000.