This article was originally published in the October edition of the Burlington Independent.
The signs are out. The election for our next mayor and council is underway. Many people are concerned about the change to the Municipal Levy box on our tax bill. Burlington’s city council controls that box, and it’s increased by more than 44% over our current council’s four-year term. What else has increased is debt, from $74 million in 2022 to $151.5 million in June 2026, a 104% increase. Faced with concerns from residents, the leading candidates for mayor are now claiming to be “Fiscally Responsible”. Who should we believe?
First, let’s look at the budget process. Once approved, the budget document outlines the year’s spending. Doug Ford gave mayors the power to set the budget. Windsor’s mayor used this power to deliver a zero percent tax increase. Our mayor chose to have city staff develop the last four budgets to meet their “needs”. For the 2026 budget, council did set a target increase. After unwinding the city’s complicated math, staff were limited to a 5.8% increase; that must have been tough. Nisan had this to say: “I didn’t support the target tax rate. I’ve been clear about that. I think that’s putting the cart before the horse and doesn’t get us staff’s best budget, which is something that was always a priority.” My interpretation is that Nisan would have supported a higher tax increase if staff had felt they needed more money to have the “best budget.”
Under Ford’s process, councillors can bring forward budget amendments, which are then voted on. So, who was fiscally responsible when council debated the 2026 budget? Here are some quotes from Nisan made during council budget debates: “Why haven’t staff recommended an increase in the renewal levy?” and “I hope that once we get over the hump of next year that we can get back to not going towards a target and asking staff for the best possible budget.” Nisan brought forward two budget amendments: one to cancel the spring telephone town hall, saving $30,000, and one to improve windrow/snow removal services for driveways, with a potential fee increase in 2027 to cover the increased cost. Nisan also complained about budget questions from the community and the cost of answering them. Reminding me of Trudeau’s comments on the advantages of a dictatorship.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/justin-trudeau-s-foolish-china-remarks-spark-anger-1.2421351
Meed Ward brought forward seven amendments. Three were deferrals, totalling $700,000, moves that amount to deferring budget items to 2027. Was this a tactic to lower the 2026 tax increase, only to follow it with a bigger increase next year, ahem, after the election? The others, tax increases totalling over $1 million, included Indigenous Advisory Services for $100,000 and a $700,000 increase in the infrastructure levy.
Kearns clarified the tax increase: “Staff and this council are responsible for the 5.8% city portion tax increase.” The CFO stated: “That’s correct.” Kearns presented 12 amendments that netted out to a cost reduction of over $500,000.
Deputy Mayor of Finance Sharman maintained that, as if by magic, reducing capital spending didn’t reduce property taxes. Taxes fund the operating budget. Money from the operating budget goes to the capital budget. Reducing capital spending would reduce the amount transferred, reducing the tax increase, but that’s a complex, multi-step process. The 2026 Budget is 568 pages long. Reading it takes a long time. Shaman didn’t present any amendments to the budget.
Sadly, with our fractured council, few cost reductions actually passed. Does past performance predict future behaviour, or should we believe the candidates who are suddenly “Fiscally Responsible”?
You can read more about the infrastructure levy here: https://www.focusburlington.ca/2forinfrastructure/
We filed a Freedom of Information request. In 2025, the mayor’s office spent $3,262.50 on indigenous advisory services.
| Spend Category | Date | Amount | Memo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honorariums | 9/1/2025 | $375.00 | Outstanding Honoraria for Sweetgrass Park – Indigenous Advisory Circle to the Mayor |
| Honorariums | 9/1/2025 | $225.00 | Outstanding Honoraria for Sweetgrass Park – Indigenous Advisory Circle to the Mayor |
| Honorariums | 9/1/2025 | $525.00 | Outstanding Honoraria for Sweetgrass Park – Indigenous Advisory Circle to the Mayor – |
| Honorariums | 1/10/2025 | $150.00 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle |
| Honorariums | 1/13/2025 | $150.00 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle |
| Honorariums | 3/28/2025 | $225.00 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle |
| Honorariums | 3/28/2025 | $225.00 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle |
| Honorariums | 3/28/2025 | $225.00 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle for March 25, 2025 |
| Honorariums | 5/21/2025 | $187.50 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle |
| Honorariums | 5/21/2025 | $187.50 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle |
| Honorariums | 5/21/2025 | $187.50 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle |
| Honorariums | 7/29/2025 | $75.00 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle |
| Honorariums | 7/29/2025 | $75.00 | Mayor’s Indigenous Talking Circle |
| Honorariums | 10/1/2025 | $150.00 | Talking Circle payment Sept 24 |
| Honorariums | 10/8/2025 | $150.00 | Mayor’s Talking Circle – Sept 24, 2025 |
| Honorariums | 10/13/2025 | $150.00 | Indigenous Advisory Circle – Sept 24 Meeting |
| Total | $3,262.50 |
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The last time I checked Burlington has 6 wards and each ward has a councillor. Am I understanding correctly that only 2 councillors (Ward 2 and Ward 3) came forward with some suggestions for this budget? What happened to the other 4 councillors – are they happy to hoist this unforgivable tax increase onto their constituents? Well I am one of those constituents, a senior, not earning a 6 figure income like we pay to our councillors. Time to get out our brooms people! I used mine a few days ago when I voted online for a change.
I looked only at the mayoral candidates in the article, except for Councillor Sharman, whose amendments made the reporting easy.
The full list is here
https://burlingtonpublishing.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=91388
My view is that we’re Canadians and we act like Zombies thinking ‘it’s alright’, all the time. Save for half a dozen smart analytical people constantly looking at the numbers and trying to raise an alarm, we are just sleepwalking into more and more pain to come. We need a reset, some hard thinking and some leadership. Not happening. The tragedy of people like Deputy Mayor Finance Paul Sharman is that the man has skills, but lacks insight, conviction and the will to use the tools. He’s now just an Alinea ‘yes man’ making the developer richer and richer and the city poorer. The current Mayor hasn’t got a clue. Years of little league journalism writing Christian faith columns and articles is not Wall Street Journal(ism) and she can neither read a balance sheet or pass an economics 101 exam. Nice lady, but clueless to the needs of a city facing dire economic strain, competitive disadvantages and needing a strategic plan to achieve success, not mediocrity. Our $151.5 m city debt is going nowhere but up. More than doubled from four years before. If the next four years are like the last four, add another 42.9% to your property tax bill. See how that makes you feel in 2030.