Toronto Water's 2021 rate-supported budget consists of an operating budget of $1.4 billion including a capital reserve contribution of $946.5 million, a capital budget of $1.3 billion – the largest in Toronto Water's history - and a 10-year capital plan of $14.8 billion. A 1.5 per cent rate increase will be effective January 1, 2021 – the average household will see an annual increase of approximately $14 next year. The budget focuses on continuing to provide quality drinking water and wastewater treatment services, while dealing with the impact of extreme storms, basement flooding, aging infrastructure and significant city growth.
The Solid Waste Management Services 2021 budget provides funding to support the delivery of programs and services, in addition to safety enhancements to trucks, state-of-good-repair projects for solid waste infrastructure and the continued development of renewable energy infrastructure. The budget also ensures the continued implementation of the Long Term Waste Management Strategy, which supports waste reduction, reuse and the move towards a circular economy. The approved budget includes an operating budget of $362.0 million, plus a capital reserve contribution of $17.1 million, a capital budget of $69.1 million and a 10-year capital plan of $737.5 million. A 1.5 per cent rate increase will be effective January 1, 2021.
Toronto Parking Authority’s 2021 budget ensures the continued availability of 19,000 on-street, more than 40,700 off-street parking spaces and the Bike Share Toronto program, which includes 6,850 bikes and 625 bike stations across the city. The approved budget includes a gross operating expenditure budget of $95.7 million and $93.5 million in gross revenue, a capital budget of $24.3 million and a 10-year capital plan of $234.4 million. The effects of COVID-19 is anticipated to continue into 2021, impacting TPA’s ability to generate a net revenue, with recovery expected in 2022.
The City's operating and capital budget for all other services and programs will be before Budget Committee in January 2021.
Budget notes, presentations and reports are available at http://www.toronto.ca/budget/.
Quotes:
“Cutting the Toronto Water and Solid Waste rate increases in half was the right and responsible thing to do. Both Solid Waste and Toronto Water found millions of dollars in savings to keep costs down without cutting services. And most importantly, we aren't slowing down the capital investments we are making in our infrastructure, especially our water infrastructure that we have worked so hard to get back on track. The capital budgets continue to invest in key priority areas to supporting the city’s growing population needs – including the largest annual capital investment in Toronto Water’s history.”
– Mayor John Tory
“The approved rate-supported budgets support financial sustainability and ensure the City continues to deliver high quality services and make improvements to our aging infrastructure. This year’s budget planning focused on equity responsive budgeting to find opportunities to make the city more fair and livable for those who reside and work here. We know that residents and businesses are facing financial challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why we’ve approved minimal rate increases of 1.5 per cent.”
– Councillor Gary Crawford (Scarborough-Southwest), Budget Committee Chair
