Council approves 3.9% tax hike in 2025 City of Ottawa budget, hikes senior fares $9
CTV
City council has voted to approve the 2025 City of Ottawa budget that will include scaled back fares hikes for seniors and retain youth discount passes while raising taxes across the board for most homeowners.
City council has voted to approve the 2025 City of Ottawa budget that will include scaled back fare hikes for seniors and retain youth discount passes while raising taxes across the board for most homeowners.
"This has been obviously a very challenging budget process," Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said at the conclusion of the six hour marathon council meeting on Wednesday.
"It is not perfect, but no budget is, having said that, I do believes that it strikes a very good balance between investing in what matters most in our community and protecting affordability for our residents."
Councillors voted 22-3 to approve the budget, with Laine Johnson, Sean Devine and Jeff Leiper voting against.
Residents will see a 2.9 per cent property tax increase plus a hike to the transit levy that would raise the average urban property tax bill by $168 in 2025. The draft budget earmarks an eight per cent increase to the transit levy, an approximately one per cent hike in taxes to most homeowners.
Property taxes are set to remain lower than many Canadian cities but is among one of the highest increases Ottawa has seen in years. Other cities have placed significantly higher tax burdens on their residents this year, including Toronto: 9.5 per cent, Vancouver: 7.5 per cent, Edmonton: 8.9 per cent and Calgary: 7.8 per cent.
Ottawa is facing significant budgetary strains, prompting Sutcliffe to launch a "Fairness for Ottawa" campaign this year to appeal for more funding from higher levels of government while sticking to a campaign promise to keep property taxes low. In addition to increases to fares and the transit levy, the budget includes $36 million in "expected funding from senior levels of government," which has not been confirmed.
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Council will vote on the final 2025 City of Ottawa budget on Wednesday and residents can expect to pay more in taxes next year.