Orillia councillors pass 2023 budget while lowering cost for taxpayers

After some rowdy moments of contention, Orillia councillors officially passed the 2023 operating budget.

Councillors held a special budget meeting following their bi-weekly meeting Monday afternoon.

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After debate amongst themselves and some from the gallery, the budget was passed, with councillors managing to lower the initial property tax increase from 3.05 per cent to 2.79 per cent for this year.

"It was a fairly arduous process. We had some good discussions with council," Mayor Don McIsaac told CTV News minutes after passing his first budget as mayor. "We ended up at the end with a 2.79 per cent increase, which given the economy of seven to eight per cent inflation, I think is commendable."

Councillors were joined by a handful of protesters who came out to have their say on McIsaac's proposal to reduce transit to hourly service during off-peak hours.

"It was actually the straw that broke the camel's back," said Aaron Switzer, a man who identifies as homeless and relies on transit. "There seems to be several different policies that have been proposed to take away free garbage tags, limit transit service, cut down on homeless encampments, things that affect low-income people right across the board."

The mayor cited data suggesting that many buses are running either empty or near empty for several hours.

However, several councillors raised concerns that the data was not specific enough and said they wanted a full report from the transit service itself before considering reducing service levels.

The mayor says the tax increase, while lower than initially proposed, could have, in fact, been kept to about 1 per cent had it not been for two factors: a seven per cent increase in the contract for services provided by the County of Simcoe and the impacts of Bill 123.

Bill 123 is provincial legislation that aims to expedite the construction of new homes across Ontario.

However, it will drastically reduce development fees that municipalities rely on.

A staff report says the legislation is expected to cost the City of Orillia $12 million over the next five years.

According to the mayor, other highlights of the budget include a $1 million investment in road repair and the hiring of a housing coordinator.

"Taxpayers are hurting. We heard that loud and clear when we were all campaigning at the doors how people are struggling with the cost of living," McIsaac said. "So we did whatever we could to spend taxpayers' dollars wisely, and I think we did a commendable job."

Considering it was his first budget as mayor, McIsaac said city staff were wonderful to work with and ensured he was prepared for the process.