Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis delivers balanced budget to support city growth

BRANTFORD, ON: Following deliberations by the Estimates Committee throughout January, at a Special City Council meeting held February 21, 2024, Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis delivered a presentation outlining the Mayor’s 2024-2027 Multi-Year Budget.

The Mayor highlighted successful efforts in the past two years to shield taxpayers from inflationary pressures through user fee increases and organizational changes, especially in light of the impact of rising material, labour, and supply costs on the City's finances. With fee increases reaching a limit and organizational changes exhausted, the final Mayor’s budget, endorsed by Brantford City Council, includes a moderate tax increase of 5.47%, keeping property taxes below the average for similar-sized municipalities.

The budget focuses on strategic investments in housing affordability, support services, shelter system improvements, and infrastructure development for future growth. Mayor Davis expressed his gratitude to all contributors and underscored the significance of the multi-year budget in providing greater certainty and accountability.

The property tax bill for residential properties consists of two components: City services, that City Council has control over, making up 66 percent of the 2024 Budget; and service partners, including Brantford Police Services, John Noble Home, Brantford Public Library and the Brant County Health Unit, which City Council has no control over, collectively accounting for 34 percent of the final City budget.

The Mayor’s budget for 2024 is made up of a City Services portion of $129,333,210. The impact of the City Services budget is a 4.20 % property tax increase.  The Local Boards and Agencies portion of the budget, over which City Council and the Mayor have no control, totals $66,798,543. The impact of the Boards’ and Agencies’ budgets has been to boost the property tax increase from 4.20 % to 5.47%. This translates overall into an increase of $15.99 a month / $191.90 annually, for the average residential taxpayer in 2024.

The Mayor emphasized Council's commitment to maintaining and enhancing essential services while being mindful of taxpayers facing economic challenges, saying “consistent with Council’s objectives to advance our city while prioritizing affordability, I’m confident this financial plan upholds Council's commitment to financing necessary operational and capital requirements to improve quality of life for Brantford residents.”

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Media Contact:

Maria Visocchi - Director, Communications, Community Engagement and Customer Service
City of Brantford | 519.751.9900 ext. 5754 | mvisocchi@brantford.ca

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