Staff Present Details of Phase 2 of the Multi-Year Community Investment Plan to Burlington Council

At our Dec. 12 meeting, Burlington City Council received a staff report detailing Phase 2 of the City's Multi-Year Community Investment Plan and approved a staff direction to provide updates to Council on the preliminary financing plan before the 2025 budget.Significant financial challenges are ahead for the City of Burlington as we continue trying to balance our objectives of increasing growth, enhancing services and rising inflation. It will be important for the City to prioritize and sequence community needs to keep taxes affordable while effectively delivering services to the community.Prioritization will be important in order to align with financial resources, due diligence reviews required on land opportunities, and sequencing of the design and construction of major site/facility developments within the city. Together, the multi-year community investment plan (MYCIP), the upcoming 2025 Asset Management Financial Plan and the multi-year operating budget simulation will provide a holistic view of the multiple financing strategies, the fundamental needs, and overall management of risk considered into one platform; ultimately, aligning with the strategic objectives of the city’s approved long-term financial planning framework.See the approved full motion and My Take below, as well as the staff report, related appendices further down this post.APPROVED MOTION:

• Receive and file finance department report F-26-23, including Appendix A providing Phase 2 of the City’s Multi-Year Community Investment Plan, and preliminary financing strategy;
• Direct the Chief Financial Officer to report back in Q4 of 2024 with Phase 3 of the multi-year community investment plan, subject to the development of a prioritization method by which Council can define the sequence of capital priorities; and
• Direct the Chief Financial Officer to provide updates with respect to the preliminary financing plan prior to the 2025 budget.

MY TAKE:I appreciate City staff's work on this comprehensive report as it underscores what we've known and said before -- the property tax base cannot cover all the needs of our community. The Federation of Municipalities of Canada (FCM) and Ontario's Big City Mayors (OBCM) are advocating to the federal and provincial governments for a new municipal framework. We cannot continue serving our residents' needs with 9 cents on the dollar using a model that was invented 100 years ago. In the meantime, the Multi-Year Community Investment Plan will help us in prioritizing and balancing the needs of the community while keeping taxes affordable and dealing rising inflation, as well as planning for increasing growth and enhancing the services our growing community is asking for.

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To read the staff report and related supporting documents, please click/tap the links below:

• Staff report: F-26-23 Phase 2 Multi-Year Community Investment Plan.pdf
• Appendix: F-26-23 Appendix A Phase 2 multi-year community investment plan.pdf
• Staff presentation: F-26-23 staff presentation on Phase 2 Multi-Year Community Investment Plan.pdf

BACKGROUND:The multi-year community investment plan (MYCIP) is a long-term plan (25 years) that provides investment for community benefit; related to park development, recreation and cultural facilities, and site amenities. Expansion of city operations and services; related to efficient and effective delivery of direct city services, and strategic land acquisition; related to future land investments for city parkland needs and other non-park related land priorities to support growth in the Burlington community.The MYCIP is reflective of endorsed Council priorities that define how we service growth in our community and address changing service standards to effectively plan for complete communities meeting the needs of current and future Burlington residents. The MYCIP should be viewed in the context of a long-term planning horizon, and as we make decisions around prioritizing future infrastructure planning the city should keep in perspective the financial capacity available to deliver the capital needs provided within, while balancing it with other existing needs and initiatives within the city.The long-term nature of the assets that will be created through the MYCIP will come with associated costs. The preliminary financing plan developed for the MYCIP will be the first step, to integrate on-going operations budget associated with new infrastructure needs into the city’s multi-year budget simulation. Furthermore, to integrate the plan for development of new assets and their renewal requirements into the city’s asset management plan.Phase 2 of the MYCIP brings forward $1.1 billion in capital infrastructure needs over a period of 25 years, refined to a detailed project list of $640 million over ten years. This value is not insignificant and will require careful planning of financial resources to implement those needs that is balanced with the city’s dedicated infrastructure levy ($6.2 billion assets), and estimation of forecasted tax rate increases. This will provide a holistic approach at long-term financial planning for the city aligned with the long-term financial planning framework.