Burlington is a great place to live, but like many other communities, there are pressures and changes taking place. Balancing the needs of the community with taxpayers’ ability to pay for those needs is the definition of politics.
For those of us at Focus Burlington, the budget review process is not about cutting everything. We all recognize that Burlington is a great city with great services.
However, the fundamental question is: do residents and businesses have a right to understand where their tax dollars are being spent?
If, like us, you believe the answer to this question is yes, then keep reading.
Our council talks the talk when it comes to engagement. Walking the walk is another story.
Inside Halton has reported “The updated forecast anticipates a 2.98 per cent increase for the city’s portion of the tax bill”.
The 2.98% increase is a meaningless number. The City of Burlington is increasing its spending by 5.8%. The only number our council has any control over is the 5.8% spending increase. Read more about the methodology the city uses to calculate rate increases. Ask yourself: Is this logical?
The lack of clear engagement starts with phrasing a 5.8% spending increase as a 2.98% increase, but it doesn’t end there. Relevant and detailed information about the 2026 budget is simply unavailable and won’t be available for citizens to review until after the resident consultation phase has been completed.
By contrast, this is the Town of Oakville’s 2026 budget process. Dates and deliverables are clear and uncomplicated. Everything is clearly laid out. The timeframe for citizen review and feedback is extensive.
June 17th to September 24th – 99 days of consultation with residents before a draft budget is released.
October 24th to November 26th – 34 days of consultation with residents using a detailed draft budget.
December 4th to December 15th – Another 11 days, with the final budget, before the council meets to consider the proposed budget.
The Town of Oakville’s Budget Approval process runs from June 16th to December 15th, which equates to 182 days. Residents will have access to budget details for almost all of that timeframe.
By contrast, notice how Burlington’s process is configured. Timelines are much shorter. The steps and deliverables aren’t clearly defined. Notice also how feedback is solicited.
1 – “The city will continue to use existing online engagement tools such as survey opportunities on GetInvolvedBurlington.ca.”
If this is anything like last year’s survey, where the city increased the budget by 8.4% but the survey described the increase like this
The 2025 inflation rate is running around 1.7%. The approved 2025 budget increased city spending by 8.4% but the survey, asking for our input, states “we’re facing inflation”.
Should the survey have read – “we’re causing inflation”?
2 – “The budget will be one of the featured booths at the City’s annual Food for Feedback event in September and a Telephone Townhall is again planned for November.”
Does this mean a resident can attend the event in Central Park on September 13th, and they’ll be allowed to stand at a table and read a 600-plus-page detailed budget? Why can’t the city release a full draft detailed budget on the internet that people can truly engage with?
3 – “To facilitate public input, a draft budget summary document will be posted to the city’s website and hardcopies made available in advance of the Budget Ward meetings which begin on September 18, 2025.”
I’m confused. A budget will be available on a table at Food for Feedback, but a “draft budget summary” will be released after the Food for Feedback event.
In 2025, the budget summary was 28 pages long and covered $471,000,000 of spending, an 8.4% increase over the 2024 budget. The summary included blanket statements like “Invest in state of good repair for community assets, including roads, parks, community centres, with a dedicated two per cent infrastructure levy”. Is the proposed new art gallery, with a $110,000,000 price tag, one of these community assets? Would the feedback have been different if we’d been told about the art gallery? We’ll never know.
You can read the 2025 budget summary here.
Here are Burlington’s key milestones and dates:
Notice that all the budget town halls and feedback opportunities take place before the release of the proposed detailed budget, draft or final. Is this a deliberate effort to hide the details of the budget from the public?
The detailed budget is released on November 3rd, councillors have until November 24th to present amendments. That’s just 21 days for public input and councillor input on the details of half a billion dollars in spending.
Going back to the question at the start of this article: Do residents and businesses have a right to understand where their tax dollars are being spent?
If you live in Oakville, the answer is yes. Burlington’s efforts at civic engagement pale in comparison, but after all, it’s only taxpayers’ money.
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Don’t you mean lack of transparency and fake engagement?