Federal budget has good news for the City of Burlington

The federal budget that was released on Tuesday (March 19) had some good news for our city, including municipal top-up funding to support local infrastructure priorities.Through that, Burlington will benefit from the one-time doubling of the Federal Gas Tax funding resulting in an extra $5.6 million for infrastructure. Federal Gas Tax funding can be used in eligible categories dealing with roads, bridges, public transit, clean environment initiatives, sports and recreation, culture, tourism and disaster mitigation.City staff will be bringing a report to the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, April 1 at 1 p.m. with some recommended projects where this funding would be suitable.FEDERAL BUDGET HIGHLIGHTSHere are some budget highlights, specific to municipal benefits from the federal budget:HousingTo help municipalities grow housing supply and find new solutions for affordable housing, Budget 2019 proposes to provide $300 million to launch a new Housing Supply Challenge. The Housing Supply Challenge will invite municipalities and other stakeholder groups across Canada to propose new ways to break down barriers that limit the creation of new housing.Federal Gas Tax Top-UpBudget 2019 proposes a one-time transfer of $2.2 billion through the Federal Gas Tax Fund to municipalities and First Nation communities. This will double the Government’s commitment to municipalities in 2018–19 and will provide much needed infrastructure funds for communities of all sizes, all across the country.Energy efficiency Budget 2019 plans to give resources to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM), municipal funding program, the Green Municipal Fund for three initiatives that would provide financing to municipalities:

1. Collaboration on Community Climate Action ($350 million) will provide municipalities and non-profit community organizations with financing and grants to retrofit and improve the energy efficiency of large community buildings and community pilot and demonstration projects in Canadian municipalities, large and small. FCM and the Low Carbon Cities Canada Initiatives will create a network across Canada that will support local community actions to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions.
2. Community EcoEfficiency Acceleration ($300 million) will provide financing for municipal initiatives that support home energy efficiency retrofits. Homeowners could qualify for assistance in replacing furnaces and installing renewable energy technologies. The FCM will use innovative approaches like the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) model that allows homeowners to repay retrofit costs through their property tax bills.
3. Sustainable Affordable Housing Innovation ($300 million) will provide financing and support to affordable housing developments to improve energy efficiency in new and existing housing and support on-site energy generation.

For more information on the announced federal budget 2019, click the link.MY TAKE:In speaking with our federal colleagues on Wednesday (March 20) after Tuesday's federal budget announcement, we've confirmed that Burlington will get an additional $5.6 million in one-time funding that will be free of the usual restrictions we see from Gas Tax cash payments. This is simply great news for our city. This funding can be spent on our infrastructure, which we know from our Capital Budget talks is in need of upgrading — on our roads, transit, brownfield redevelopment, sports, tourism and disaster mitigation, to name a few. Our city staff will begin working on a report to lay out the best uses for these funds for Council's consideration.I am also looking forward to getting more details around the proposed $300 million to launch a Housing Supply Challenge that encourages municipalities to come up with innovative ways to grow its housing supply. Making sure Burlington has access to these funds will certainly help us meet the growing need of affordable housing in our city.On a personal note, and as a former journalist, I am pleased with the announcement that $595 million of the federal budget will be dedicated towards supporting journalism and include a 15 per cent tax credit for digital news subscriptions. Anything that helps keep our local news organizations going and promotes an informed public and transparent society is a great move in my books.