By Lydia Thomas
November 3rd, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Lydia Thomas: we did not plan for food prices and utility costs and gas prices and mortgage rates to skyrocket.
Good afternoon Mayor Meed-Ward, Chair and Members of the Committee. My name is Lydia Thomas and I am a retired senior living on Filman place in Aldershot Burlington.
Did you know that from 2019 to 2022, the Burlington Food Bank has seen a staggering 94% increase in total visits? That is almost double over the last 4 years. And if that does not shock and motivate us to do better, let’s look at benchmarks – this 94% Burlington increase in Food bank visits is more than double that of Ontario (43%) and almost triple that of Canada (35%). (1)
And unlike other cities, the Burlington Food bank isn’t just supplying food to poor neighbourhoods. No, according to the Food Bank, Burlington is unique – because our poverty is well hidden and it is found in EVERY demographic. It is every age, every ethnicity, every gender and virtually every neighbourhood. (1) Cost increases including Burlington Property Tax increases are forcing most Burlington residents into financial instability and driving them to the food banks.
Seniors are one of our most vulnerable groups that need support and we are failing them. In 2022, there was a 312% increase in seniors visits to the Burlington Food Bank compared to 2018. Seniors are on a fixed income but living costs continue to climb. 1 And the solution to subsidize low income seniors with credits does not solve the problem. Why? Because in Burlington all residents including those with full time jobs are struggling to maintain their standard of living and stay in their homes. We are all being forced to tap into our savings or worse, the equity in our homes. It is assumed that because we have an income we are ok. Well, that is just not the case with these property tax increases.
I consider my family one of the lucky ones- we have a beautiful home and enough food such that we do not need to visit the Food Bank. But we are a senior’s family facing the same challenges. Our income has remained the same while costs have gone dramatically up. Our retirement plan that we meticulously laid out is out the window.
Why ? Because we did not plan for food prices and utility costs and gas prices and mortgage rates to skyrocket. We did not plan for our savings and investments to be eroded due to a slumping economy. And we certainly did not expect the city to kick us when we’re down by increasing our property taxes over 7% last year.
Hamilton supposedly has much higher property taxes than Burlington but I have a friend who’s residential home on Highland Rd. is 35% bigger and with a lot 4 times the size of mine and is only paying 6% more than we are which suggests to me that our MPAC assessments are elevated. (3)
Oakville is running their city on a property tax rate of 0.76 % vs our 0.86. (2) Last year their tax increase was 1.5% and 3.8% this year. Based on those Oakville figures, our 7% Burlington increase from last year should cover us off with no increases for the next 3 years. Why can’t we run our city on a 0.76% rate? What are they doing that we are not?
Instead, you are doubling down with another 6% increase this year. Is this the best that the City Council can do for the citizens of Burlington?
We the residents of Burlington deserve better. We ask that you hold every new spend proposal up against the face of employed Burlington residents and seniors that are visiting the Food Bank, that have homes that are becoming unaffordable.
Do we really need that sidewalk on Park Street right now? Why are we adding winter maintenance to 20 city parks this year when we have not had it in the past?
Lydia Thomas: Find ways to do more with less.
Do we really need 46 new hires? Do we need 8 people to help optimize new digital tools? Digital solutions are supposed to increase efficiencies not increase headcount. With my CPG background I suggest you consider training existing employees to become subject matter experts that can lead the implementation and be go to people for your staff vs. Hiring 3rd party resources that know nothing about your processes.
The point is : Find ways to do more with less.
Self Fund new initiatives. Utilize volunteers and redeploy resources.
Better utilize that 7% increase from last year and commit to a Zero tax rate increase for 2024.
Find a way or we will surely be seeing more homeless families and more neighbours and seniors visiting the Food Bank.
Is this really the vision that you have for Burlington?
Is this really the best that you, our elected officials can do for us?
Footnotes (Councillor Nisan’s questions):
1. 2022/2023. Burlington Foodbank Hunger Report https://www.burlingtonfoodbank.ca/wp-content/uploads/ 2023/03/Hunger-Report-2023_FINALWEB_SPREAD.pdf
2. 2023. WOWA report
3. Note that the effects of property taxes also depends on MPAC assessment timing and Parameters. It appears that ours favours higher property tax $’s when compared to Hamilton. This may be in part due to Burlington land values based on location and demand but the difference in value seems inordinately high. And once MPAC assessments occur this property increase will be a further shock to finances.
Post Note #1 to meeting
Councillor Nisan mentioned a survey where the majority say they are okay with an increase. The survey that I had said that I had seen was very different (see Attached). 39% want 0% increase and 31% are okay with 1-3 %. I would suggest that we do not know if most of the 31% prefer 1% over 3% but I would venture that is the case.
Post Note #2 to Meeting:
Councillor Sharman mentioned during the meeting follow up that efficiencies and redundancies have already been addressed. Respectfully, this job is never done. There is always more to be done and there are always more savings and redundancies. I know this from working 30 years at CPG companies and meeting tough budget cut mandates. (Saying no to old projects, cutting those that are important but not urgent and urgent but not important, etc.). Every company (or in this case, City) will say they have cut to the bone but surprisingly, when forced to find the $$ and efficiencies, it will be found. It is just a matter of hard choices.
Sign the petition against tax hike https://chng.it/ytsTKHKGtm
Sharman is in my ward. 100% I’m not voting for him next election.
Excellently article and we’ll said the City needs to run efficiently and stop these outrageous increases. We simply cannot afford them. Why did we upgrade Mountainside Pool again? It was working well and had been updated not that long ago. Stop taking on projects like this and do what needs to be done.
Anne, thankyou for letting me know I was able to fluster the councillors and the mayor. Going into the meeting I was concerned that my calculations, a 10.23% increase for 2024 on the back of a 13.73% increase in 2023, might be wrong but it quickly became obvious that the Mayor and councillors knew exactly what I was talking about.
We could not let the importance of what you had to say pass Eric particularly as what you said made so much sense and we believed showed the true scenario. We have always believed honesty and not spin is the best policy. But not all of us are as aware as you are, or can decipher the truth from spin, Actually Ihink you blew away all Councillor Bentivega’s current ideas about this budget. The importance of it coming from a well informed cool, calm and collected newcomer to the lectern cannot be reiterated enough.
The 1950 signatures Wendy collected including ours before closing and the facts Lydia put forward and defended so well from a Council who their salaries alone put them outside the financial difficulties of these times have even more power because of your delegation and the light it shed. Thousands of families are totally unaware of how much we are spending on Bateman for example that may not be in our best interests at this time.
We would like the 1950 represented by the petition and others like ourselves demand a public, council/Mayor media communication as to their agreement or not with your 10.23% figure for the 2024 budget and not just before the next Council discussion.
While we are seniors we are not as vulnerable as some who have had to leave their homes and its memories of better times as last year’s tax increase let alone this year’s was the last straw. Our concern for financially vulnerable families and seniors needs to continue to be hammered home whenever the opportunity presents itself to those who we elected to make decisions in the best interests of the city. Thank you again Eric, Lydia and Wendy for the hole you made that simply cannot be plugged with spin or other rhetoric, truth as demanded through this media outlet needs to be the only element the budget for 2024 is based on.
Thank you Eric, Lydia and Anne and Dave. Really really good job and a lot of work. We all appreciate your efforts very much. As Dave and Anne say, we’ve had enough of the spin. “Stop the spin. Stop the spending.” Can we put that on a billboard across from City Hall?
Anne, there was some miscommunication about my petition. It is not closed. It is alive and escalating, currently at 2144 signatures (5 pm Nov 5, 2023). Please do not hesitate to continue to let people know about it. I don’t intend on closing it until Dec 31
MS. THOMAS: Excellent delegation to our City Council. I agree with you 100% to everything you said. I hope our City Council members were all listening very carefully to your stats and comments in your presentation. Our City Council needs to stop spending our Tax dollars on “nice to haves”, and only spend our money on the things that are “absolutely necessary”.
Also, the City’s Surveys are absolutely ridiculous and useless when our City Council refuses to listen, or act accordingly, to what the residents of Burlington say when completing them.
Thank you.
Excellent presentation Lydia.
The sad fact is that the city isn’t run like a business.
Councilors are not the board of directors.
Politicians don’t make hard choices. They just raise taxes.
Kudos Lydia, well thought out and to the point. Many seniors are on a fixed income with no opportunity for a 7+% increase.
Thank you Lydia for this very informative article.
When one reads Ms. Thomas’ delegation and her answers to the rather obtuse questions of two Councillors, one wonders why this Council has such incredible difficulty in in accepting fiscal responsibility as their first order of business. One can perhaps explain the lack of awareness on the parts of the Mayor and Councillors Sharman (no he really didn’t have much of a private sector job), Stolte, and Nisan. But Kearns, Galbraith and Bentivegna were either business owners (and still are) or worked for a true private sector enterprise where the balance sheet mattered. Even in higher levels of government, such as the Province, serious deficit situations are met with hiring freezes and discretionary funding reviews not ‘tone deaf wish lists’ and new staff requests.
Ms. Thomas outlines a situation with the Food Banks in Burlington that is a deplorable indication of hidden need in our City. Every member of Council should be ashamed – as should those of us who have comfortable lives and allowed this to happen. Perhaps, if Mr. Nisan had attended the Engagement Exercise that occurred on Wednesday in his own Ward 3 (but far from his Ward 2 home), he would be reluctant to mention City-conducted surveys as though they had any validity. They don’t.
Blair,
There was no one from council at the first meeting at Appleby or the one at the Seniors Centre last night. They had 45 -50 people at the Seniors Centre. Only six at Appleby. Interesting experience at the Seniors Centre, the tables with translators were busy. The English speaking table had just 2.
Sounds like a great delegation and very telling, and an easily predictable outcome with an understanding of classical macro economics.
It seems we have a council that mirrors the feds, likes to spend, likes to hire consultants, lacks fiscal discipline, likes photo ops, spins and ignores input from the public and buys votes from selective groups and demographics with tax payers money.
Excellent delegation and really annoying comments back from both Nisan and Sharman. Rory’s is particularly condescending and silly – quoting a survey?? – especially considering your experience. I like your replies to their comments.
Your comparison to Oakville is very telling as is the fact we had 7 percent increase last year. The Mayor hired not one but two new people in her Mayor’s office very recently – conveniently before budget discussion. We don’t need $100M and counting spent on Bateman, a huge portion of the building not even to be used by the city. We certainly could have passed on renovating city hall and the outdoor square. We didn’t need multiple rainbow crosswalks all at once. Perhaps they could have stopped paying consultants every time they want to make a decision on anything? Certainly there are many things they could cut, if they truly cared to do so.
Bottom line is: if there’s a will, there’s a way, and it sure seems like the will isn’t there.
Yes Lynn it was an excellent presentation. Ours before we heard petition was not allowed was on the same theme but Lydia nailed it far better than we could have. Thank you Lydia.The delegation that foliowed was also superb and left Paul Sharman, Lisa Kearns and the Mayor scrambling to deny the truth of the matter that the Mayor’s Budget is actually more than 10% increase over last year, not the figure below 5% that she claims.. Councillor Bentivegna was a little more subtle and responsive to the facts.
The delegate, stuck to his guns and we had a very calm delegate and what appeared to us very flustered councillors and Mayor trying to argue Mayor’s spin was the true picture rather than his. Lisa Kearns actually supported the Mayor’s position some time during the evening that the province forced them into this process when the Gazette and commentators have clearly identified Mayor’s Budget is Mayor’s choice. This is starting to become a very interesting process despite the very late inclusion of the petition. We found out right before our delegation which for the most part could not be read into the record because of the change in the deIsion made by Kevin Arjoon, the decision the Procedural Bylaw and Committee Clerk Lisa Palmero supported.
Lisa Kearns suggesting the province forced them into this position is utter fallacy. First of all if you look at the financial statements, the money from developers has typically been only 2.5% of total revenue dating back to 2017. There have been 2 years in between 2017-2022 that it was a bit more.
Second, the breakdown of budget before MMW minor adjustments shows virtually no impact from that. It breaks down as follows: Base budget 1.79%, Previously Approved Capital Projects 1.53%, City Operations 1.29%, Asset Replacement Fund Tax 0.97%, Reducing Greenhouse gases and Getting Green 0.65%, Miscellaneous 0.59%
It should be noted that the base budget includes significant amounts for salaries carried from 2023 and further increases and hires for 2024. The 1.02 m MMW dropped from staff’s budget was minor. Throwing the dog a bone dropping it from 6.695 m to 5.674 m. At a time when so many familiies are struggling, and the federal government is handing out grocery rebates, the attitude by this Mayor and Council that an average salary of 104K (2022) by city employees is not enough and that we need to be paying top dollar for new talent, epitomizes the grandiose spending and absolute lack of fiscal restraint by this Mayor and Council.
To clarify, the Greenhouse gases and Getting Green, that’s my title. They called it Enhancements to Services. I felt that wasn’t at all what it sounded so renamed it. The $ is for turning corporate vehicles, city hall and buses green, and this increase wouldn’t be enough for all of it so you could expect to see more. Its one of those things that while we should strive towards it, this isn’t the time imo.
The DIR (Dedicated Infrastructure Replacement) or Asset Replacement Fund Tax – This was already increased from 1.25 to 1.60% in 2023 and was supposed to stay there for 10 yrs. This is what Sharman is referring to when he cries how they’re in a 500m deficit. Which begs the question, if they are in such dire straits for $ to replace assets, why are they spending 10m + on salaries, 6.5 m for city hall renos + the city’s portion of 1.32 m for Civic Square? I digress
The total assets were 5.3B last year & they’ve changed evaluation to now be 6.3B. Why does that matter? Bc the DIR policy is to keep 2% of the total assets on hand to repair and replace. When you’re talking an accounting change from 5.3-6.3B, that’s 20m more in the fund they want. Please note, keeping 2% on hand is a policy, not the law. The lifespan of assets is different for each category but only Corporate Fleet (cars), Fire, and IT have 10 year lifespans with the rest being 30-110 years. In other words, assets do need to be repaired to keep them in good working order but we are not replacing the majority of things on a regular basis. Furthermore, the majority of the city’s assets have been defined as in good or very good condition meaning they are nowhere near the end of their life contrary to what has been implied in this and recent budgets.
$126 million is alot of money to keep on hand for assets that have a long way to go before needing replacement. At the end of 2022, there was $30 m in this fund. To try to increase the amount in the fund, the city keeps increasing the % of this DIR tax. But they made the choice to escalate funding. They could cut 0.97% from the budget with the stroke of a pen, and given they’ve already increased funding to it in 2023, that’d be a reasonable move imo. As the 0.97% would nail taxpayers for $4.4 m in 2024 (and every year thereafter for at least 20 yrs) cutting it would save taxpayers $1.32 m and still put $3.1m in the fund
As this is already very long, I’ll just comment on the 1.53%. Three items account for 78.4% of this! Bateman (2.9m), Skyway (1.4m) and new IT (1.1m).
The new IT, I’m not saying its not critical in the 21st century. But any claims it dates back to the 80’s? It wouldn’t even work. Further, if it was so critical, why wasn’t it the first thing done? It falls behind salaries and renos? What’s to be said about Bateman that the readers here don’t already know. The city can blame not getting funding on Skyway ballooning from 15m to 21m to 40m. But they were either moving forward or weren’t. It was dogged with delays for numerous reasons beyond funding. It took from Dec 2018 to Jan 21 to even complete the designs. There’s lots of blame on covid. But the rest of the world did not stop because of covid. Project design still could have been completed, a bid for construction secured, and demolition started regardless of whether higher level funding was achieved or not. Lastly, it was costed at 32m 3 mths before hand picking who’d get the project instead of competitive bidding. That’s 7m more of taxpayer money.
The remainding 20.6% of the 1.53% was for operating expenses for 4 new buses and a handivan. ie salaries. The handivan, I’m all for. More buses when they haven’t fixed the issues with the current system, they run on GO time and so don’t connect for non-GO riders, and the system is still 4.54 m in the red, I have a hard time with.
I apologize for the length. I just couldn’t let another of these comments made by council that are designed to detract from the truth stand.
Don’t apologize! This is valuable information and we are so grateful to you for providing it. I am not a numbers person at all. Agree very much with your comments.
I hope people aren’t buying what they are putting out as well as the fallacy that it’s the province’s fault. Really sick of hearing that nonsense on every contentious issue. The Mayor’s supposed line in the sand is also woefully inadequate and inaccurate. Pepper, please see Eric’s comments on how the increase actually exceeds 10 percent. The killer increase is the City’s: not the Region’s nor the school board’s. We need people like Eric and Wendy to explain it properly!
Get ready for some mayor spin at the town hall that isn’t a town hall and at the councillors’ ward meetings. Suggest people attend as many as they can, not just their own. Let’s hold them all to account. They all work for all of us and it’s our money.