Mississauga 2017 operating and capital budgets: State-of-good-repair

NRU
Nov. 30, 2016
Leah Wong

Mississauga’s built infrastructure is valued around $8.5-billion. While much of it is in good shape, the city is building contingencies into its budget in anticipation of the costs associated with maintaining these assets in a state-of-good-repair as they age.

This week Mississauga council started deliberating its 2017 operating and capital budgets, with staff proposing a $463-million net operating budget and a $202.1-million capital budget. This reflects a 5.9 per cent increase in the operating budget over 2016, which means property taxes will increase in 2017: residential by 1.98 per cent and commercial by 1.18 per cent.

Mississauga city manager Janice Baker told council that almost 96 per cent of the 2017 proposed net operating budget is allocated to maintaining existing service levels.

Staff recommends that council continue its 2 per cent capital infrastructure and debt replacement levy, which will generate $8.7-million for Mississauga’s capital reserves. The levy was first introduced at 1 per cent in 2009. At its existing rate, 1 per cent of the levy is allocated to funding capital infrastructure and another 1 per cent is allocated to debt repayment.

“We have to continue to maintain our infrastructure and improve it,” city treasurer Jeff Jackson told council. “A lot of our infrastructure was built 25 to 40 years ago and was paid for by development charges. It’s really time to pay for it through taxes.”

Climate change and the increased presence of impervious surfaces due to intensification are increasing the pressure on the city’s already aging stormwater infrastructure. Recognizing that more money is required to keep the infrastructure in good working order and to avoid costly repairs in the future, the city introduced a dedicated stormwater management charge last year.

Staff is proposing that council increase the stormwater charge to $102 per stormwater billing unit, up from $100 last year. Staff anticipate the charge will generate revenue of $41.5-million in 2017, of which 71 per cent will be dedicated to infrastructure renewal and 29 per cent to operations.

Transportation and infrastructure planning director Helen Noehammer told council in 2017 staff will continue to develop a comprehensive asset management plan for the city’s stormwater infrastructure.

“It is critical to have [an asset management] program in place so that we are certain we are managing that infrastructure in a cost-effective manner,” said Noehammer.

Mississauga land development services group, comprising six multi-disciplinary staff teams involved in the development approval process, plays an important role in managing the city’s growth. These teams are split among three departments— planning and building, community services and transportation and works. Staff is proposing a $9.314-million net operating budget—which reflects a $405,000 net increase over 2016. This request will fund four additional full-time equivalent positions in the planning and building department.

The 2017 land development services priority is to maximize the use of technology to improve customer service. Staff plans to achieve this by expanding its use of ePlans—an online platform for application and plan submissions and review. Metrics from the first half of 2016 show that the use of ePlans has led to a 34 per cent reduction in the average review time for all major building permits. This improvement has enabled staff to increase support to applicants less familiar with the building permit process.

Staff has also requested a $1.580-million capital budget for 2017, as part of the $14.995-million 10-year land development services capital program. The priority capital projects in 2017 are expanding ePlans to include land development applications, creating the housing strategy operating plan and implementing strategic waterfront initiatives.

Mississauga council will consider its 2017 operating and capital budgets at its meeting December 14.