City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 22, 2025 Meeting?

Just when you thought it was safe to put your calculators away… The budget process for 2025 reaches its final phase with this meeting, the presentation and approval of the local boards and shared services budget. These are agencies that are important to Guelphites offering services and programs used everyday, but they are also the budgets that councillors have the least control over. So how much more will you have to pay? Let’s find out…

NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting in-person or via tele-presense but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on Friday January 17. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.

NOTE #2: In addition to meeting in-person, this meeting will also be live-streamed on the City of Guelph’s website here.

NOTE #3: This meeting takes place at the special day and time of Wednesday at 9 am.

2025 Budget Update Local Boards and Shared Services Agencies – One major piece of the 2025 budget confirmation process remains outstanding, and it’s the local board and shared services. Who is this? It’s the Guelph Police Service, Guelph Public Library, Grand River Conservation Authority, the Downtown Guelph Business Association, The Elliott Community, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, and Guelph’s portion of the Wellington County Social Services budget. These are agencies that Guelph ratepayers wholly or partially fund, but are run by their own boards and executives outside the corporate structure of the City of Guelph.

Obviously, these are seven budgets that all have their individual drivers and considerations, but like the City of Guelph proper, Mayor Cam Guthrie asked the local boards to deliver a net budget increase of four per cent or less for 2024. The approved net levy increase for these agencies was 2.41 per cent over 2024, but in these documents the net increase is actually 3.14 per cent, which is mostly driven by increases from Police and Social Services. Council approved a 3.66 increase for the City portion of the 2025 levy in November, so the additional increase for the LBSS will bring the impact for 2025 up to 6.8 per cent.

Here is the full slate of recommendations:

1. That an amended 2025 operating budget for the City’s local boards and shared services (LBSS) agencies be approved, inclusive of the following:

a. The LBSS agencies budget requirement, net of the proportionate share of assessment growth, totalling an increased net levy requirement over 2024 of $10,192,159 or 3.14 per cent inclusive of the following:

i. Guelph Police Services: an increased net levy requirement over 2024 of $5,142,214;
ii. Guelph Public Library: an increased net levy requirement over 2024 of $624,346;
iii. County of Wellington: an increased net levy requirement over 2024 of $4,603,154;
iv. Guelph-Wellington-Dufferin Public Health: an increased net levy requirement over 2024 of $83,051;
v. The Elliott Community: a decreased net levy requirement over 2024 of ($260,606).

b. Grand River Conservation Authority budget with an increase in gross operating expenses over 2024 in the amount of $51,700.
c. Total transfers to/from Reserve and Reserve Funds in 2025 in accordance with the LBSS reserve and reserve fund update.

2. That Council acknowledges the administrative adjustment for debt funding in the amount of $1,634,000 between the City budget and Guelph Public Library budget, totalling a net zero impact to the total Guelph tax levy.

3. That an amended 2025 net levy requirement from taxation and payment in lieu of property taxes inclusive of City and LBSS agencies up to $351,179,344 be approved.

4. The Downtown Guelph Business Association budget with gross expenditures of $787,929 and a total levy of $721,200.

5. A 2026-2027 operating budget forecast to be received as information.

6. An amended 2025 LBSS capital budget with a net increase of $632,708 from the 2025 adopted budget resulting in the gross 2025 expenditure amount of $7,004,308 inclusive of funding transfers from capital reserve funds and other sources including partnerships, grants, and debt financing.

The Elliott Fixed-Term Loan Update – The 29-bed expansion of The Elliott Community long-term care was funded through a proposed line of credit from the City that would be repaid by the Ministry of Long-Term Care when funding came through for the project. Council will be asked to empower the treasurer and the solicitor to execute the fixed goal agreement in the principal amount of $2.5 million that is being provided by the ministry. The City of Guelph contributed nearly $863,000 to the project and the expansion unofficially opened in November receiving new residents.