Christmas is coming to Barrie without an increase to the taxman’s bill, for now.
City council gave final, unanimous approval Wednesday evening to the city portion of the 2025 budget.
The tax-supported base budget for city operations, as well as the infrastructure investment fund, has gross expenditures of $342.6 million and a net property tax levy requirement of $197.8 million.
It also comes with no increase to the city portion of the operating budget — which pays for more than 60 city services such as firefighting, snow clearing, road repairs, garbage pick-up, transit, parks and recreation, and water treatment.
“You don’t get a zero per cent increase on the city operations without broad buy-in,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall.
“The amount of infrastructure work we’re getting done … it’s a pain in the you know what when you’re trying to drive down a road that’s under construction, but the reality is we have, as a council … really, really put a priority on getting infrastructure built and getting those city building projects done that have been talked about for eons," he added.
The city’s final operating and capital budgets, to be approved by council in early 2025, set property taxes, which everyone pays directly or through their rent, and also sets city levels for those 60-plus services.
But no increase to the city portion of the budget likely won’t equal zero on Barrie homeowners’ tax bills next year.
Increases to the 2025 Barrie Police Service budget, which will be paid by city property taxpayers, and County of Simcoe spending on social and health services, of which Barrie must pay its share, will be determined early in the new year.
Just for comparison’s sake, the 2024 operating/capital budget included a 4.82 per cent tax increase to Barrie homeowners, which equals $228 more this year on a typical city home assessed at $368,000. That hike was with no increase to the city’s operating portion of this year’s budget.
The city’s infrastructure investment levy, or capital rehabilitation tax, is to increase by two per cent next year — which will cost the typical Barrie home with an assessed value of $369,000, and paying $4,994 in property taxes, another $99.88 in 2025.
It also adds $6.4 million to city coffers — half for tax-based infrastructure, to repair and replace Barrie’s roads, pipes, buildings and bridges, the other half for stormwater infrastructure.
And the same typical home using 180 cubic metres of water/sewer will pay an annual water bill of $420 (which is $16 more than this year) and $615 for sewer (or $28.87 more than 2024).
So while the city portion of property taxes will see no increase next year, adding $99.88, $16 and $28.87 equals $144.75 more for that typical Barrie homeowner in 2025.
More spending pressure remains on city taxpayers for 2025.
At this point, next year’s police budget totals $72.34 million, which is $4.8 million or 6.99 per cent more than this year. The police budget is traditionally about 20 per cent of Barrie’s operating budget, and the largest portion.
Barrie also pays its share of services provided to the city by the county — social housing, paramedics, Ontario Works, long-term care, etc. — and that, combined with police spending, likely means city homeowners face an overall 2025 property tax hike when the bill comes due.
To maintain those 60-plus services, the city is spending another $7.2 million next year and a further $700,000 for new service levels.
The city also plans to hire 13 full-time equivalency employees next year to help deliver services.
The forecast assessment growth of $6 million in 2025 will help the balance of expenditures and revenues.
City staff are also to establish an automated speed-enforcement (ASE) reserve, to be funded through net fine revenue collected (after offsetting costs associated with operating the program) and the money available in this reserve would be used for temporary and permanent traffic-calming measures, such as speed cushions, intersection improvements (including raised intersections), road improvements, more traffic signals, flexible bollards, planters, radar speed boards, expanding the ASE program.
New 2025 capital budget projects include sidewalks on Edgehill Drive, east of Pringle Drive, to connect to existing sidewalks, for $975,000.
Another new capital project called ‘Little Lake Boardwalk and Dock’ would cost $500,000.
“For years, public, safe access to the lake for things like canoeing, kayaking and bird watching has been requested,” said Coun. Ann-Marie Kungl. “This is an acknowledgement that we do want access to that beautiful other gem in the city (besides Kempenfelt Bay).”
Also in the budget is new park lighting and park furniture at Ferndale Woods Park, costing $100,000, and a new splash pad at the Peggy Hill Team Community Centre, costing $50,000 in 2025 and $1.25 million in 2026. There will also be basketball, tennis and pickleball courts.
The 2025 capital budget totals $441.9 million, including $308.1 million in previously approved funding and $133.7 million in new funding requests.
It also contains Barrie’s sixth fire station on Mapleview Drive East. Announced last August, when shovels went into the ground, it’s to take 14 to 18 months to build and cost $10.4 million.
The 2025 capital budget could also include Barrie’s new performing arts centre, slated for the current Sea Cadets/Navy League site on Kempenfelt Bay, near the Spirit Catcher, once the General John Hayter Southshore Community Centre has its addition for the young sailors.
The Southshore addition is a northerly extension to the basement of the existing building. It comes with a $4.55-million price tag, with $300,000 committed by council for the addition’s plan and design. Staff will report back to councillors for future construction funding approval, once costing is refined through the design process.
No funding source for the Southshore’s Sea Cadets addition has been identified by the city.
The performing arts centre would be designed with a maximum total building cost of $65 million in hard and soft construction costs for the building itself, including fit-out of all seating and audio-visual components, and be funded in part from the city’s theatre reserve — which had a balance of $7.6 million as of early October.
Barrie’s reserve balance in 2025 is forecast at $251 million, and the increase in city reserves during the next five years is expected to be $122 million.
The city’s current debt level is $271 million, forecast to drop to $254 million in five years.
This is what’s called Barrie’s strong mayors budget. Nuttall instructed staff to prepare a motion approving a 2025 tax-supported base budget for city operations and the infrastructure investment fund, with gross expenditures of $342.6 million and a net property tax levy requirement of $197.8 million.
Ontario’s Municipal Act provides the head of council with the authority to give direction to city staff in writing, and a zero per cent increase in the city’s operating budget comes with this budget, according to a budget memo on mayoral direction to city staff, from Nuttall, dated July 12, 2024.
“It came in at zero per cent right off the bat,” said Coun. Gary Harvey, chairman of the finance and responsible governance committee, referring to no increase to the city portion of the budget.
Property taxes are calculated based on the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s (MPAC) assessed value. MPAC last did a province-wide assessment in 2016, so Barrie’s property values are significantly lower than actual 2024 or 2025 market values.
Barrie councillors are to receive 2025 budgets from city service partners — county, police and library — on Jan. 8, then hear presentations of these budgets Jan. 15.
General committee’s budget talks are to be Jan. 22, with city council approval of the total operating and capital budgets slated for Jan. 29.
