It’s “Money May” for this month’s Committee of the Whole meeting. The lion’s share of this agenda concerns the fiscal wrap-up for 2025 and there’s going to be some extremely mixed news there. There’s also going to be the results of another value-for-money audit, plus some timely reports concerning the election that’s about to begin, and the possibilities for the election coming up in four years. Let’s check out the preview…
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 Thursday May 1. 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.
CLOSED MEETING:
Parkland Acquisitions – Pretty straightforward because no matter what land is being acquired, it’s covered under section 239(2)(c) of the Municipal Act for a “proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.”
STAFF RECOGNITIONS:
1) CAO Tara Baker, DCAO Stephen O’Brien and Human Resources GM Andy Ip will accept the recognition of the City of Guelph as Waterloo Area’s Top Employer for 2026.
2) Payroll and Benefits Associate Alyssa LeBlanc has secured their Achievement of Payroll Compliance Professional Designation with Distinction
Building Permits Approvals and Inspections Value-for-Money Audit – The latest in a series of value for money audits focuses on the building permit system, and for the most part the department is operating efficiently and in compliance with the Ontario Building Code. In 2025, the City issued 1,757 permits worth $450 million and completed nearly 30,000 inspections, so a lot is riding on the efficiency of this department, but there are two main areas for improvement: the lack of a centralized complaint tracking system and the absence of regular performance reporting to council and senior leadership despite the fact that they already collecting detailed operational data internally. There’s also some concern about declining revenue from large projects.
2026-2030 Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee – City council be asked to again endorse the creation of a joint Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee for the 2026–2030 council term in partnership with the Region of Waterloo and its member municipalities. The committee is responsible for reviewing requests for audits of candidates’ or third-party advertisers’ campaign finances, appointing auditors where necessary, and deciding whether legal proceedings should proceed in cases involving potential campaign finance violations or over-contributions, and it’s more efficient for all these municipalities to combine their efforts, especially since there was only one complaint in the last term.
2025 Year-end Operating Budget Monitoring Report and Surplus Allocation and Deficit Funding – The good news is that the deficit for 2025 wasn’t $3.1 million as predicted in the third quarter monitoring report… The deficit was actually half that, literally. It was $1.6 million, and that’s driven by a shortfall in building permit fees, overtime and staffing pressures in transit, fire, paramedics, and operations, rising maintenance costs for aging buildings and fleet vehicles, plus $1.9 million in additional spending for winter control costs. On the plus side, there was stronger than expected transit ridership, more revenue from recreation and the River Run, land sales, investment income, and fuel costs savings. The Guelph Police and the Guelph Public Library also ran surpluses in 2025.
2025 Year-end Capital Budget Monitoring Report – In good news major infrastructure projects like the new library and the South End Community Centre are on time and on budget, the City of Guelph has enjoyed great success securing grant money, and they’ve still got that AAA credit rating. In terms of challenges there was a massive carryover into 2026, staffing pressures continue, housing targets are way off and procurement is experiencing delays due to bottlenecks, but the report affirms that the City is managing its large capital program well despite those challenges.
2025 Long-term Financial Statement: Reserves and Debt – The City is still within it’s formal debt limits, but the pressure is growing. There is a risk that Guelph’s credit rating will be downgraded with the direct debt-to-operating ration now breaching the 30 per cent line, but more than that all the new exemptions demanded by the Ontario government has effectively drained the DC Reserve, which is now showing a negative $12.3 million balance. The amount of DCs collected last year was $12.6 million compared to the nearly $54 million that was forecast, and that’s before getting into staff concerns about the contingency reserves, which are now at 36 per cent of their targeted balance. In that case, it’s a decrease from 50 per cent.
2030 Election Voting Methods – Despite council endorsement, there will be no internet voting in this year’s municipal election. At issue is that there’s no way for people to vote independently at home, and that’s what this new motion from Councillor Erin Caton will hope to answer. The motion asks the city clerk to be prioritize new voting methods for independent at-home vote as part of the prep for the 2030 election.
Guelph Politico 