Budget 2017

The 2017 Budget was adopted by City Council on December 14, 2016, when Mayor Watson delivered his annual Budget address.  A transcript of the Mayor’s Budget address is available.

2017 Operating and Capital Budget - Tax and Rate Supported Programs

2017 Operating and Capital Budget - Tax and Rate Supported Programs

Corporate Budget Summaries

Corporate Operating Budget Summary 2017

Capital Budget Summary 2017

Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

• Development Review Rural Services Briefing Note
• Development Review Rural Services Operating Budget

Audit Committee

• Office of the Auditor General Briefing Note
• Office of the Auditor General Operating Budget

Community and Protective Services Committee

• Community and Protective Services Operating Budget Summary

Community and Social Services

• Community and Social Services Briefing Note
• Community and Social Services Operating Budget Summary
• General Manager's Office Community and Social Services Operating Budget
• Social Services Operating Budget
• Child Care Services Operating Budget
• Long Term Care Operating Budget
• Housing Services Operating Budget
• Strategic Community Initiatives Operating Budget
• Community Funding Operating Budget

Emergency and Protective Services

• Emergency and Protective Services Operating Budget Summary
• General Manager's Office Emergency and Protective Services Operating Budget
• Security and Emergency Management Briefing Note
• Security and Emergency Management Operating Budget
• Fire Services Briefing Note
• Fire Services Operating Budget
• Paramedic Service Briefing Note
• Paramedic Service Operating Budget
• By-Law And Regulatory Services Briefing Note
• By-Law And Regulatory Services Operating Budget
• 2017 Operations Briefing Note
• 2017 Operations Operating Budget

Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services

• Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Briefing note
• Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Operating Budget
• Parks Briefing note
• Parks Operating Budget

Environment Committee - Rate Supported

• Environment Committee Rate Supported Operating Budget Summary
• Drinking water Briefing note
• Drinking water Operating Budget
• Wastewater Services Briefing note
• Wastewater Services Operating Budget
• Stormwater Services Briefing note
• Stormwater Services Operating Budget

Environment Committee - Tax Supported

• Environment Committee Operating Budget Summary
• Infrastructure Services Briefing note
• Infrastructure Services Operating Budget
• Environmental Policy and Programs Briefing note
• Environmental Policy and Programs Operating Budget
• Solid Waste Services Briefing note
• Solid Waste Services Operating Budget
• Forestry Services Briefing note
• Forestry Services Operating Budget

Finance and Economic Development Committee

• Finance and Economic Development Operating Budget Summary
• Elected Officials Briefing note
• Elected Officials Operating Budget
• City Clerk and Solicitor Briefing note
• City Clerk and Solicitor Operating Budget
• City Manager's Office Briefing note
• City Manager's Operating Budget
• O-Train Construction Briefing note
• O-Train Construction Operating Budget
• O-Train Planning Briefing note
• O-Train Planning Operating Budget
• GM Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development Department Briefing note
• GM Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development Department Operating Budget
• Economic Development Briefing note
• Economic Development Operating Budget
• Service Innovation and Performance Department Briefing note
• GM Service Innovation and Performance Department Operating Budget
• Corporate Communications Operating Budget
• Corporate Programs and Business Services Operating Budget
• Human Resources Operating Budget
• Service Ottawa Operating Budget
• Corporate Services Department Briefing note
• GM and City Treasurer Operating Budget
• Finance Operating Budget
• Information Technology Services Operating Budget
• Corporate Real Estate Office Operating Budget
• Non Departmental Briefing note
• Non Departmental Operating Budget

Planning Committee

• Planning Committee Operating Budget Summary
• Planning and Growth Management Briefing note
• Planning and Growth Management Operating Budget
• Building Code Services Briefing note
• Building Code Services Operating Budget
• Affordable Housing Briefing note 
• Affordable Housing Operating Budget

Transportation Committee

• Transportation Committee Operating Budget Summary
• Public Works and Environmental Services Briefing note
• General Manager's Office Public Works Operating Budget
• Business Services Branch Operating Budget
• Roads Services Operating Budget
• Parking Operations Operating Budget
• Traffic Services Briefing note
• Traffic Services Operating Budget
• Transportation Planning Briefing note
• Transportation Planning Operating Budget
• Fleet Services Briefing note
• Fleet Services Operating Budget

External Boards, Agencies and Commissions

• Crime Prevention Operating Budget
• Committee of Adjustment Operating Budget
• Ottawa Public Library Briefing note
• Ottawa Public Library Operating Budget
• Ottawa Police Service Operating Budget
• Ottawa Public Health Briefing note
• Ottawa Public Health Operating Budget
• Transit Commission Briefing note
• Transit Commission Operating Budget

The 2017 Draft Budget was tabled at City Council on November 9th, 2016. As part of the pre-budget consultation process, Councillors conducted information sessions from mid-September to mid-October, providing information on the municipal budget process to residents and getting views and ideas on the priorities for this draft budget.

In addition to the Councillor-led sessions, online resources were also developed to raise awareness on how the budget process works, including an interactive consultation tool  that allowed residents to plan a simulated municipal budget and submit additional comments. While the tool is now closed for comments, it remains available as an information tool.

The following is a summary of residents’ feedback from the interactive consultation tool:

An on-line budget consultation tool was recently piloted to support the City’s 2017 budget process. Citizen Budget provided residents with an overview of budget allocations by service, an opportunity to explore the budget, see impact of changes at a high level, and to submit feedback. This tool, which is bilingual and meets Ontario’s accessibility requirements, went live on 25 August. It is still available for information and interaction, but the ability to provide feedback and submit results was disabled when the draft budget was tabled on 09 November 2016.

The feedback received is not statistically valid and did not directly inform the creation of the proposed budget. Community feedback/results were provided to Council during the budget process.

Results

During the 77 day period when the tool was live, both the French and English versions of the website were viewed 1499 times and the survey was completed by 242 visitors.

The survey consisted of four distinct sections, and the results of each section have been summarized as follows:

1. An opportunity to propose changes to budget allocations and then examine service impact and monthly costs to the taxpayer. The tool allowed users to simulate adding or decreasing funding to a list of 15 tax‐supported areas. The tool displayed the amount of their taxes per month going to each service area, based on the actual assessed value of their property, if the participant inserted the value, or the default value for a typical Ottawa home. The results are as follows:

Proposed Increases to Services

• Long-term care – increase by 4.2 per cent
• Roads and Traffic – increase by 1.7 per cent
• Social Services – increase by 1.6 per cent
• Paramedics – increase by 1.6 per cent
• Housing – increase by 1.3 per cent
• Public Health – increase by 0.7 per cent
• Parks, Recreation and Culture – increase by 0.1 per cent
• Transit – increase by 0.04 per cent

Proposed Decreases to Services

• Planning, Economic and Environment – decrease by 3.4 per cent
• Library – decrease by 2.8 per cent
• Police – decrease by 2.5 per cent
• Fire – decrease by 2.0 per cent
• Program Support – decrease by 1.2 per cent
• Garbage and Recycle – decrease by 1.0 per cent
• Child care – decrease by 0.7 per cent

1. An open-ended feedback section to provide comments on the City budget and/or the simulated budget exercise. Observations on the open-ended feedback are as follows:

• Overall, residents are happy with the Citizen Budget tool, citing that it provided them with an opportunity to learn more about the City budget and budget process.
• One common suggested enhancement is for the tool to provide more details, so that each spending area could be further broken down.
• There are no consistent themes regarding spending more or less on each of the City’s services.
• There are many suggestions on ways to improve the various City services.

1. An evaluation of the use of the tool and residents’ level of understanding of the budget process.  Results show that the tools was successful in increasing understanding of the City’s budget and engaging residents who may have not otherwise participated in the budget discussion.  The majority of respondents indicated that the tool provided them with an opportunity to learn more about the City’s budget and City services overall. Nearly half of respondents have had limited experience with City budgets and most have never or seldom provided feedback to Council in the past. The following is a breakdown:

• 61.6 per cent somewhat agree or agree that they have been able to learn more about City services.
• 72.1 per cent somewhat agree or agree that through the simulated budget exercise they have been able to learn more about the City’s budget.
• 51.9 per cent indicated that they had beginner or limited experience with municipal budgets.
• 74.3 per cent have never or very seldom delegated/provided feedback to City Council and staff about the budget.
• 85.8 per cent have indicated that they would use the tool or another simulator in the future, 3.8 per cent would not and 10.4 per cent didn’t know.

1. A “tell us about yourself” section.

Are you a homeowner or renter?

213 responses were received for this question, of which 185 respondents indicated that they were homeowners, 25 were renters and 3 identified as “other”.

Age range of respondents

214 responses were received for this question. No one identified as being under 20 years of age, 24 people indicated that they were between 20 and 30 years of age, 64 people were between 31 and 40 years old, 30 people were 41 to 50, 41 respondents were between 51 and 60, and 55 respondents were 61 years of age or older.

Participation Rate

By comparison to other Canadian municipalities who are using the tool as part of their budget consultations, Ottawa’s viewing and participation rates were lower. For example the City of Edmonton, with a similar population to Ottawa’s of 899,447, had 4267 views to the website and 1409 completed surveys in 2015. The results for 2016 have not been published yet but 2016 represents the fourth consecutive year that Edmonton is using the Citizen Budget tool as part of their budget consultation process. The participation rate went from 600 completed surveys in 2013 to 1409 in 2015. It is believed that this year-over-year increase can be attributed to increased awareness of the tool by residents. 

Despite the participation rate, the tool has been successful in reaching Ottawa residents who may have not otherwise provided feedback.  The experience of other municipalities indicates that there is the potential to increase the use and participation of the tool as part of a range of options to engage residents