By Pepper Parr
October 3rd, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
We learned this morning that the reports on how the July Flooding were going to impact the 2025 budget, expected in October, will not get to Council until the November cycle of Committee of the Whole meetings.
Flood waters running out of community and on to the 407 Hwy.
In November the Flood Hazard Impacts and Mitigation Assessment and the July 15th storm event and response update will be presented.
This is going to take place at around the same time the Mayor will release a proposed Budget to City Council.
It is very hard to fully understand how the Mayor is going to table a budget report that doesn’t have all the data that is relevant. There will not have been any opportunity for the public to delegate – perhaps that’s the intent?
For the past three weeks the Mayor has been meeting with citizens in each ward looking for feedback on the budget knowing that critical data is not available.
We know that the on November 4, Mayor Meed Ward will release her proposed Budget to Burlington City Council.
On November 7, 2024 – Telephone Budget Town Hall hosted by Mayor Meed Ward – it will run from 7:00- 8:30 p.m.
Members of Council have until November 11, to propose amendments to Proposed Budget
November 18 & 21, Committee of the Whole will review of Proposed Budget amendments proposed via Motion Memorandum process
November 25, Council will review the Proposed Budget and at that time decide on what the tax increase for 2025 will amount to.
It is a very tight schedule that was put in place by the province when Strong Mayor powers were declared by the province.
The most essential part of the budget creation process is public engagement – with all the data available. This looks like another one of those situations where the city is determined to be able to say that the public was engaged knowing that they did not have all the facts.
I read the proposed budget and purposely looked for info on flood mitigation and saw nothing. I thought this was quite irresponsible to have these pre-budget meetings without this significant information. I fully agree with the comments made by Pepper Parr
My understanding is the reason for the delay in the flood report is due to the fact staff are just totally inundated!
I suspect the flood mitigation cost/expense will not be a part of the regular budget but will be dealt with separately as was the JB Hospital tax levy. If it is, and yes as some have shouted out previously via the Gazette, it should be a time limited and segregated levy, used solely for flood mitigation purposes.
Jim, the corporate policies was an issue raised by us during Arjoon’s reign, as you know along with missing meeting minutes that we relied on along with many others to put together the issues in terms of the 2018-2022 Council that should never have seen the majority of them re-elected.
The Council was misled by several staff members including the city manager that Council will rules when nothing is further from the truth. It is this totally wrong attitude and under reporting by mainstream media that leaves us with projects millions above original budget and past council’s decisions improperly set aside with the associated risk.
We saw a faint light begin to shine at this week’s COW with a CAO quote that indicates Mr. Basit is not going to follow in the previous city manager’s footsteps. However until there is a plan in place to catch us up from the Arjoon days and the mess our current clerk and deputies have inherited and we get an Integrity Commissioner who does not stay quiet about a well-lapsed Code of Good Governance unfortunately things will not change. As you have reminded us in the past. We have to have a Clerk to meet legislative requirements but we do not have to have those who previously led us into or condoned the mess that we are now having to live with.
The Mayor’s penchant tor believing that her methods of substantiating why councillors should support her will rather than best interests of city cannot as you know hold up too much longer. She does have to bring the airplane into land or the ship into harbour, safely and in one piecel The odds against that happening increase with every COW and Council spiel she utters.