Region to borrow $154 million - more than half of that is money Burlington is going to have to pay back

By Staff

April 6th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

When a municipality has to borrow large sums of money to be paid over a long period of time they work with the Regional government who do the borrowing for everyone at the same time.

This time around they are going to the market for $154,647,000 in 2023.

As shown in the following table, the combined debt requirement in 2023 for the Region and the Local Municipalities is estimated at $154,647,000, and represents the maximum amount of debt that would be issued in 2023.

The final decision will be made at the time of the market issue. Of the $154,647,000, $54,647,000 relates to the Region and reflects borrowing of up to that full amount related to the 1 District Facility in Halton Hills for the Halton Regional Police Service.

Burlington has borrowed to cover the costs of turning Bate into a Community Hub.  The public still doesn’t know how much that venture is going to cost.

 

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4 comments to Region to borrow $154 million – more than half of that is money Burlington is going to have to pay back

  • Alfred

    Caren, Joe and Blair.

    Don’t forget the cost of borrowing the money has more than doubled or tripled after this deal was arranged. Thanks to the rising interest rates. These councilors and Mayor except for 1 or 2 aren’t qualified to balance their own cheque books, let alone make business decisions involving numbers approaching 100 million dollar mark. They bought at the high end of the real estate market at the lowest interest rate not realizing the these rates fluctuate wildly. This is how a business would go bankrupt. Taxpayers enjoy.

  • Caren Burcher

    Why? This article says, and I quote the author, “Burlington has borrowed to cover the costs of turning Bate (s/b Bateman) into a Community Hub”. To the tune of $85,000,000.00 million dollars.
    I find this very odd as I followed the information provided by the Mayor and City Council regarding the 2023 Property Tax Budget talks. And I also attended the City of Burlington’s meeting re the 2023 Budget costs and expenditures. At this meeting, the public were told that part of the increase in the Property Tax for 2023 was due to the Bateman Property & Renovation. So we have a Property Tax increase of approximately 7.6% to 7.8% this 2023 Tax year. And this increase was itemized as including the Bateman property and renovations including Asbestos removal. So why has Burlington borrowed an additional $85,000.000.00 million dollars from Halton Region for this project?? Are we being Hoodwinked??
    And, there was never any Public Engagement or Polling done by City Council prior to City Council Purchasing this Property or agreeing to the costs to renovate it?
    In fact, the purchase price of the Bateman Property was not divulged to Burlington Tax Payers until after the October 2022 Municipal Election. Nor did they divulge the Renovation costs or the costs for removal of the Asbestos at Bateman.
    And then, there is the Skyway Arena, again no Public Engagement there either? This money does not belong to City Council, but belongs to Burlington Tax Payers (who have to pay for it).
    We need more accountability and more Engagement from Burlington City Council towards Burlington Tax Payers.

  • Joe Gaetan

    In other words,over 50% of the $154,647 of indebtedness belongs to Burlington. According to Prime Minister Trudeau, he was borrowing (aka going into debt) so Canadians (us) would not have to do so. As Dr. Phil often asks, “How’s that working for you? Apparently not so good for the taxpayers of Burlington. And why is that the case, listen to this nonsense, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au3NlUr9gIw

  • Blair Smith

    It’s probably just me – that “self appointed nit picker” – but isn’t there something really amiss with this picture? We have Burlington leading the Regional Debt Parade on the back of one of the largest tax increases in recent memory. We face depleted reserve funds and a laundry list of unfunded infrastructure and operational needs. And the silence is deafening!