North Bay City Council, senior staff and department heads will begin public 2025 budget deliberations starting this evening with meetings this week scheduled nightly through Thursday, March 6.
Deputy Mayor Maggie Horsfield, who also serves as the city's budget chief, says the meetings will first focus on the operating budget before moving to the capital side. There are four more meetings scheduled from March 17 to 20.
In an attempt to make the process more user-friendly, this year’s operating budget documents "enhance communication for the general public by providing visual explanations of the budget breakdowns for expenditures and revenues," Horsfield shares. "Key projects for 2025 are highlighted, along with initiatives within each business unit, which align with the strategic plan and the operational review implementation plan."
The meetings are open to the public and will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Mayor's Boardroom on the fifth floor of North Bay City Hall. Seating is very limited. The initial meetings tend to run until about 9 p.m. There is no live stream available for this week's deliberations.
The operating budget covers the daily costs of running the City of North Bay's services. The recommended 2025 operating budget includes total gross expenditures of $165.4 million. It also includes a tax levy of $116 million, which is an increase of $6 million over 2024.
The proposed budgets reflect a levy increase of 1.74 per cent for city operations and 3.76 per cent for service partners, resulting in a total levy increase of 5.5 per cent before any service level changes. This translates to an annual increase of approximately $76 per $100,000 of the taxpayer's residential assessment value or around $6.33 per month.
One year ago, the operating budget, totalling nearly $160 million, included a tax levy of approximately $110 million — a levy increase of 3.97 per cent. The increase per $100,000 in home assessment was $41.40 for the last tax year.
Approximately 68 per cent of the 2025 levy increase is directly related to funding provided to the service partners, including the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board, North Bay Police Service, Cassellholme, North Bay Library, North Bay–Mattawa Conservation Authority, North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, and the Capitol Centre.
The recommended budget will use reserves to lower the tax burden. As the 2024 budget process came to an end, Horsfield said, "We understand the difficulties residents are encountering, and with an estimated surplus from last year, we're utilizing reserves to alleviate some of the burden. We also recognize that the City is experiencing similar cost pressures and cannot rely on reserves indefinitely. That's why Council is committed to implementing a strategy to gradually phase out the use of reserves to support ongoing operational costs over the next five years."
While there is some wiggle room for service level changes once the recommended budget is set, each addition naturally increases the 2025 levy. Much of the first few nights of the budget deliberations generally focus on the proposed service level changes. Among the proposals:
The 2025 Administration Recommended Operating Budget increase is $6,050,862 or 5.5 per cent over 2024.
- Waterfront and City of North Bay Amenities Security $105,000
- Rural Community Immigration Pilot support $12,500
- Firefighter staffing/training $53,840
- Freedom of Information/Records Management Coordinator $67,700
- Physician Recruitment
- Implementation of sod as CNB restoration standard $206,608
- North Bay Jack Garland Airport
Total proposed budget is $6,558,142+, a rise of 5.96 per cent over 2024 if all service level changes are approved.
See also: Water rate shift accompanies passed water and wastewater budget
The 2025 water and wastewater budget was passed in January and is up $1.3 million from last year or 4.99 per cent — for the average North Bay household using 14 to 20 cubic metres of water each month, this means a monthly increase of between $3.05 and $5.93 on their bills.
BayToday will cover the entire budget process from City Hall.