Statement on 2023 Budget Directions
During this year’s final Council meeting on December 14, we debated and voted on the Budget Direction for the 2023 budget. This is not the same as voting on the actual budget for 2023, which will take place in March. The budget direction is where Council gives “direction” to the city’s departmental staff to draft their proposed budget for the year. But the parameters provided to staff through this direction, in many ways, determine the budget’s ultimate outcome.
The most controversial element of the 2023 budget direction was the Mayor’s recommendation to cap the property tax increase at 2.5%. This rate of increase was a promise that Mayor Sutcliffe made during the campaign, out of concern for the affordability crisis that so many residents are facing.
Mayor Sutcliffe’s budget direction to cap the property tax increase at 2.5% passed with the majority of votes at Council, but I was one of 8 councillors who voted against the budget direction.
I did not vote in this manner out of disregard for the financial challenges faced by residents, nor did I cast my vote lightly. Rather, I am concerned about our City’s inability to provide adequate services and programs, let alone address our significant infrastructure concerns, if we limit our revenues in this manner. These are difficult times financially for residents, but they’re also difficult times for the bottom line of our city. I’m concerned that a cap of a 2.5% property tax increase will further hinder our city’s ability to do what it needs to do.
Even with the annual increases of 3% over the past four years under Mayor Jim Watson, our city's core infrastructure remains in dire shape, and many of our essential services are underperforming. What I heard from residents during the campaign was: fix our roads & sewers, fix transit, build more affordable housing, hire more By-Law officers, take better care of our city's most vulnerable. It's hard to accomplish these goals without significant investment.
Based on the city's calculations, for a house assessed at $415,000, a 2.5% tax increase would represent an additional $104 to the owner. A 3% tax increase - which is the increase we've had since 2018 – would represent $135 more per year to the owner. In other words, the difference between the 2.5% cap and the 3% cap we’d grown accustomed to was about $30. I know that, for many, $30 is significant when every dollar counts. But for those who need our city's services the most, or to improve our underfunded infrastructure, that $30 times 330,000 taxpayers is $10M in revenue that could’ve gone a long way.
No matter the ultimate outcome of the 2023 budget that Council will vote on in March, I will be sure to work with our Mayor, my fellow Councillors, and our hard-working staff to make the most effective and responsible use of our available resources. But I will also continue to press for a fulsome discussion with residents and City Council about the ongoing need for our city to invest properly in our future.
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New Ways to Bus: Ward 9 Information Page
Thanks for visiting the Ward 9 information page on OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus (NWTB). This page is designed to provide you with some essential details on how the service changes may impact transit riders in Ward 9, including route adjustments, the rationale behind the changes, and how we have advocated for our residents.
We fully understand that many residents are legitimately frustrated with these changes. Many riders see these adjustments as another cost-cutting measure from OC Transpo, as they continue to face significant financial challenges.
OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus revised route network will focus on frequency, local service in your neighbourhood, and connections to key destinations. Through these many adjustments, OC Transpo's aim is to increase the reliability of our bus route system. Riders will see a shift in the number of downtown-focused bus routes, to routes that improve connections to community hubs and key destinations. Some customers may have to go further to the bus stop, or require additional transfers to buses or trains, or will have longer overall travel times. In addition to fewer Connexion routes, some routes will be retired due to low ridership and to improve connections to new routes and the O-Train. Retired routes will be replaced with alternative service nearby.
For now, the position that Councillor Devine and his team are taking is that we are very sympathetic to those concerns, but that we need to help residents prepare, because these changes are coming soon. New Ways to Bus comes into effect April 27th. What our office is focused on is trying to ensure that our residents are prepared for the change, and monitoring how the new system performs in its initial weeks and months.
New Ways to Bus website
For the most comprehensive information available, OC Transpo has created a dedicated New Ways to Bus website, complete with many useful items, including:
- a New Ways to Bus network map
- information on new signage
- a detailed list of routes that will not change, and routes that will change
New Ways to Bus - Travel Planner
The OC Transpo Travel Planner has now been updated to include the New Ways to Bus routes that take effect April 27th. Try it out! Enter your trip information for a trip that you might take now and then enter the same trip information for a date after April 27th and see what kind of changes there will be.
New Ways to Bus - Ward 9 Bus Routes
You can find specific information on each route in the entire New Ways to Bus network on their new website. Our office has also compiled a series of PDF route maps for all of the Ward 9 bus routes.
Public Information Sessions
OC Transpo has organized a series of community events for residents to meet with OC Transpo staff to ask questions about changes in the New Ways to Bus system. The event that was held on April 4th at the Nepean Sportsplex was poorly attended because OC Transpo did no provide clear information about where the event was taking place. Residents are encouraged to attend other sessions.
Councillor Devine's advocacy for Ward 9
Ever since the first draft of the New Ways to Bus network was rolled out well over a year ago, our office has been engaged with OC Transpo in trying to stop some of proposed changes. It wasn't altogether easy to get concessions, since Council has no authority over OC Transpo's operations. But we managed be successful in some of our attempts, though we were less successful in others. For the sake of transparency, we wanted to provide residents with a summary of our efforts over the last year.
Routes 282/82
- What we won: It's shocking to believe, but in the original draft of the New Ways to Bus network, Route 82 would have seen its service frequency cut down to peak hours only. This would've been devasting to the western part of Ward 9, who are already seeing other decreases in service. After strong advocacy from our office, Route 82 will maintain full-day, seven-days-a-week service. During peak hours, it will connect to Tunney’s Pasture, offering a viable replacement for the discontinued 282 express route.
- What we lost: Unfortunately, Route 282 was removed. While we fought to maintain express service, this decision reflects several lost express routes, due city-wide budget constraints. However, once the LRT Line 1 West extension is complete, riders will be able to take the 82 to Pinecrest Station, for a quicker ride downtown.
Route 173
- What we lost: Route 173 will no longer service Manordale, becoming a local route serving Barrhaven instead. We continue to object to the questionable rational for this decision, as Barrhaven has more than enough routes serving it. We are committed to monitoring the impact of his lost service, in the hopes of restoring something.
Routes 111/112/189
- What we won: When the first draft of the New Ways to Bus network was rolled out, we quickly noticed that the proposed changes to the 111/112 routes meant that there was no longer any bus service on Chesterton Drive, meaning that two schools, an apartment tower, and a large lower-income housing complex would see no service at all. Even worse, Chesterton Drive is on an incline! We pushed hard against this change, which resulted in Route 189 being re-directed to run along the entire length of Chesterton Drive. While this means riders will need to make an additional transfer, it would have been much worse if there was no route there at all.
Routes 89/86
- What we lost: Despite our advocacy, Routes 89 and 86 will see reductions and decreased frequency. We will continue to push for adjustments if transit reliability issues arise.
There are several other changes to service routes in Ward 9, some of which will result in an increased level of service. We'll try to post more information on these changes shortly.
