There\u0027s an established pattern: The mayor sets a tax cap, a council majority backs it, staff make sure the math fits — and it\u0027s done.
to come back with a 2.5 per cent tax increase, there was no reason to think it would be anything but. What Ottawa residents were really looking for was the fine print. With inflation running at 6.3 per cent, higher interest rates now the norm, and Ontario’s Bill 23 cutting into on city finances, the big question was where the money to keep taxes at 2.5 per cent would come from — especially since Mayor Mark Sutcliffe had vowed there would be no cuts to programs and services.
Interestingly, the savings and efficiencies came from transit, with $42.7 million from a reduction in money set aside for capital spending and $4.3 million from cutting more than 100 OC Transpo buses from operation. This is interesting because all we heard year-long was that OC Transpo finances were in dire straits because of the pandemic.
All in all, you could say “job well done” by Sutcliffe, particularly because there are no cuts to services and programs as many feared. But Sutcliffe’s feat is not a huge surprise. Mayors often pull out all the stops, especially in their first budget, to keep campaign tax promises. But as is often the case, the pain comes in the following years, and as Sutcliffe noted, next year could be tough, tougher still, if higher levels of government don’t step up to help.
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