By Gazette Staff
July 2nd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Summer is usually an easy time for City Council.
At the meeting scheduled for July 7th, council will see what the financial people expect the tax increase to be for 2025-26.
Add the 2.83 and the 2.98 – you get a total of 5.81 which is what the city wants to set as the tax increase. Enhancing services is where cuts can be made. Has the city explained the new infrastructure well enough?
Hear is how they explain what they feel they will need:-
Based on the investments in current and expanded service delivery included within this report, the City would require a budget increase of 5.80%. Assuming a Region of Halton increase of 4.3% and no change for Education, the overall tax increase is forecasted to be 4.40% equivalent to $42.71 per $100,000 of residential current value assessment (CVA). Burlington’s portion of the overall increase would be 2.98% as outlined below.
Burlington has always shuffled the different financial needs of the Region and the school boards with its own needs. What the public needs to understand is what the city is spending – this year, that is projected to be close to 6%.
What the other levels of government need is separate – that their spending might reduce the average, is relevant but it is what the city is spending that City Council has to control. And a close to 6% for 2026 does not look like control
Why the city feels it needs, close to 6%, when inflation is less than 2% is something we find confusing.
Alignment to Corporate Strategy
Burlington’s Strategic Planning Approach, is undergoing an internal strategic realignment. This includes a revised 25-year Strategic Plan as well as a shift from the service-based Vision to Focus to a department-based 5-year Corporate Strategy.
This Corporate Strategy includes:
Strategic Directions for the organization.
These are the high-level, overarching priorities to achieve the vision and mission:
Deliver Positive Community Impact
Build Transparency and Public Trust
Unlock Innovation and Partnerships
Enable Sustainable Growth
Transparency and Public Trust will be a challenge for this council
Why is Burlington’s proposed property tax increase 5.8% while Oakville’s is only 3.5%?
As a resident, I have serious questions:
1. Who proposed and approved this number?
2. What exactly justifies such a steep increase—again—compared to neighbouring cities?
3. Is Burlington facing unique financial challenges that Oakville isn’t? Or is it a matter of poor budgeting and overspending?
4. How is this sustainable for working families, seniors, and residents already stretched thin by high inflation and rising mortgage rates?
We deserve full transparency:
• Where is this extra money going?
• Are we funding critical infrastructure, or growing a bloated city administration?
• Are we seeing real value, or are we just paying for more overseas “delegations” and nice titles at city hall?
It’s getting harder to accept year-after-year increases that far exceed inflation without clear accountability. Other cities manage to balance their budgets more responsibly—why can’t Burlington?
We have nothing more to give. Our pockets have been picked clean between perpetual tax increases, general cost of living increases, and stagnating incomes that don’t even come close to keeping up with inflation anymore. Our households are having to make difficult choices daily between needs versus wants, with even some needs having to be deferred. This isn’t a game, City Hall needs to understand that there is a breaking point, and we’re getting very close to it. Anything more than a 2% increase is indicative of gross mismanagement. 0% should be the target.
This non stop spending binge has to stop.We need to see an all out effort to find ways to cut spending.A review of all programs,staff decreases and a pay freeze would be a good start.