Right off the hop, Barrie homeowners could be on the hook for another $145 next year.
While councillors heard a presentation Wednesday evening of the 2025 operating and capital budgets, which set property taxes and service levels, the devil is in the details about infrastructure spending and water/sewer rates.
For example, the city’s infrastructure investment levy or capital rehabilitation tax is to increase by two per cent next year, which costs the average Barrie home with an assessed value of $369,000, and paying $4,994 in property taxes, another $99.88 in 2025.
And the same typical home using 180 cubic metres of water/sewer would pay an annual water bill of $420, $16 more than last year, and $615 for sewer, or $28.87 more than 2024.
Adding $99.88, $16 and $28.87 equals $144.75.
Mayor Alex Nuttall said filling potholes, repaving roads, fixing sewers and water pipes has to be a priority.
“We are putting an investment in infrastructure as a real charge of what we’ve been tasked to do by the community, to fix the roads, to invest in infrastructure in each of our wards and around the city and to get those projects done that have been talked about for so long,” he said.
“There is an immense amount of work happening to fix our city’s infrastructure," the mayor added.
Water and sewer charges in 2025 are set to increase 3.96 per cent and 4.92 per cent, respectively.
“Water has to follow the Safe Water Drinking Act and have a full cost recovery pricing system in place, and so that’s what we have,” said Craig Gillespie, Barrie’s senior manager of corporate finance and investments. “Wastewater doesn’t have legislation similar to that, but … the ministry encourages you to have a similar approach, so we have full cost recovery system in place for wastewater as well.”
The $145 will be on top of the property tax increase city council will pass in early 2025.
Council’s eventual goal is no increase in the city’s portion of property taxes, on more than 60 services, such as firefighting, snow clearing, road repairs, transit, parks and recreation, and water treatment.
But almost-certain increases for the services provided by the County of Simcoe (social housing, ambulances, Ontario Works, etc.) and police spending mean Barrie homeowners are facing an overall 2025 hike when the tax bill comes.
At this point, the 2025 police budget is $71.43 million — which is $3.9 million or 5.79 per cent more than this year. The police budget is traditionally about 20 per cent of Barrie’s operating budget, and the largest portion.
New 2025 capital budget projects include new sidewalks on Edgehill Drive, east of Pringle Drive, to connect to existing sidewalks. This would cost $975,000, with 60 per cent of its funding from development charges (DC) reserves and 40 per cent from the tax capital reserve.
Another new capital project, called the Little Lake Boardwalk and Dock, would cost $500,000 and be funded from the tax capital reserve.
Also in the budget is new park lighting and park furniture at Ferndale Woods Park costing $100,000 in 2025, also funded from the tax capital reserve.
And also in the capital budget is a new splash pad at the Peggy Hill Team Community Centre, costing $50,000 in 2025 and $1.25 million in 2026, again to be funded from the tax capital reserve.
Also in the 2025 capital budget is Barrie’s Fire Station No. 6 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. It’s being funded largely from development charge (DC) reserves.
Development charges are designed to recover the capital costs associated with residential and non-residential (commercial, industrial, institutional) growth within a municipality from developers so that existing residents don’t have to foot the bill.
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 Southshore Centre has its addition for the young sailors.
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.
This is what’s called Barrie’s strong mayors budget.
Nuttall has 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.
Offering some balance is that 2025 assessment growth is predicted at $6 million, basically from new residents moving into houses being built.
Property taxes are calculated based on the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s (MPAC) assessed value. MPAC last did a provincewide assessment in 2016, so Barrie’s property values are significantly lower than actual 2024 or 2025 market values.
Ontario’s Municipal Act provides the head of council with the authority to give direction to city staff in writing, and one this year is a zero per cent increase in the city’s operating budget, according to a budget memo on mayoral direction to city staff, from Nuttall, dated July 2024.
As in the past two budget talks, these ones will be spread out from late November until January’s end.
At this point, the schedule calls for the city portion of spending to be debated by general committee Dec. 4, then passed by city council Dec. 11.
Councillors will receive 2025 budgets from city service partners — the county, police department and Barrie Public Library — on Jan. 8, then hear presentations of these budgets Jan. 15.
General committee’s budget talks will be Jan. 22, city council approval of the operating and capital budgets on Jan. 29.
