Next year’s water/wastewater rate increase is now expected to be 4.8 per cent, while the tax levy increase is anticipated to be somewhere between 3.2 to 4.4 per cent.
This, following a series of decisions city council members made during Tuesday night’s finance and administration committee meeting.
All of this could change during budget deliberations later this year, but these figures represent a starting point for city staff in charge of drafting budget documents.
The water/wastewater rate has been a point of debate around council chambers for the past several weeks, ever since city staff recommended annual rate increases of six per cent beginning next year.
Recent years’ annual rate increases of 4.8 per cent were deemed inadequate to address the city’s annual water/wastewater infrastructure spending gap of $54.1 million, which 4.8 per cent annual increases wouldn’t close for another 24 years.
By ramping annual rate increases to six per cent, the annual spending shortfall would close within 15 years.
The plan proposed by Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre and approved by his colleagues on Tuesday, calls for a water/wastewater rate increase of 4.8 per cent in 2026, 5.4 per cent for 2027, 5.8 per cent in 2029, 5.8 per cent in 2030 and six per cent in 2031.
The difference between Lapierre’s proposal and what staff recommended is $16.2 million, which prolongs filling the spending gap by three years, to 18 years total.
During Tuesday’s meeting, city auditor general Ron Foster was asked what impact this might have.
“It’s a discretion of council with some caveats that the longer you wait the more risk you accept of having some unexpected developments in the short-term,” he said, noting that “discretionary projects” are now being punted down the line.
“A conservative, cautious person would say go with the 15-year implementation at six per cent,” Foster said, adding that the sooner you get to that point, the closer you are to having safe, stable infrastructure.
“When these services are missing, people will remind you those are core services, and with the benefit of hindsight you can second-guess your decision making,” Foster said before adding, “We make recommendations in audit, and council makes the hard decisions.”
Less capital funding from the get-go will mean fewer condition assessments and early interventions, city Water/Wastewater Treatment and Compliance director Shawn Chretien told city council members during his presentation.
“Early intervention in assets’ lifespan with timely, preventive maintenance, effectively prolongs its useful life with lower overall cost of ownership compared to the assets’ future replacement value,” he said, also noting that the city will have less capacity to tackle unplanned events.
By the end of a lengthy discussion around council chambers, only Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc ended up voting against Lapierre’s amended resolution to slowly ramp up annual water/wastewater rate increases to six per cent by 2031.
Tuesday’s votes were without Ward 3 Coun. Michel Brabant, who was not present.
For Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer, the vote was “between a rock and a hard place,” with affordability on one side and the need to fill infrastructure spending gaps on the other.
When it comes to future years’ tax levy, city staff were given minimal direction beyond council members greenlighting the city’s long-range financial plan as proposed.
Whereas past years saw Mayor Paul Lefebvre introduce successful motions seeking tax levy increase limits (for 2025 it was 4.9 per cent), Tuesday’s meeting saw him introduce something different.
Within Tuesday’s successful motion, staff has been directed to prepare a draft 2026-27 budget “with a municipal operating increase no greater than 1.7 per cent net of assessment growth.”
Following Tuesday’s meeting, city Financial Planning and Budgeting manager Liisa Lenz explained to Sudbury.com that the 1.7-per-cent municipal operating increase direction doesn’t make up the entire 2026 tax levy increase projected. It excludes expenses related to the city’s four-year capital plan, outside boards and the 1.5-per-cent special capital levy.
The 1.7-per-cent municipal operating increase is in line with the city’s long-range financial plan which city council members approved during Tuesday’s finance and administration committee meeting (but still needs to be ratified at a future city council meeting).
All-in, the long-range financial plan anticipates annual tax levy increases averaging between 3.2 per cent and 4.4 per cent for the next 10 years. Special capital levy increases of 1.5 per cent are scheduled for 2026 and 2027, followed by annual special capital levy increases of one per cent. These special capital levy increases are included within the annual 3.2 per cent to 4.4 per cent tax levy increases forecast within the long-range plan.
Starting with 2024, the city began adopting multi-year budgets, including two-year operational budgets and four-year capital budgets.
Although 2026 marks a new two-year operational budget, it marks the third of four years within an already-approved capital budget.
That said, city council members could change any of this during budget meetings scheduled to take place later this year, at which time a new two-year operational budget will be set and the four-year capital budget’s final two years will be readopted.
Next up for 2026 budget preparations will be community consultation, with online submissions accepted from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31.
A draft budget document will be released on Nov. 4. This is a staff-drafted budget which follows city council direction but has not yet been approved by the city’s elected officials.
Service partners, including Conservation Sudbury, Greater Sudbury Police Service, Greater Sudbury Public Library and Public Health Sudbury and Districts will present their budget requests to city council in November. City council members will debate the budget, including business cases, beginning on Dec. 2, and are anticipated to approve a 2026-27 operating budget and readopt the two remaining years of the 2024-27 capital budget on Dec. 4.
The 2026 property tax policy, which calculates how the tax levy burden is distributed amongst property classes, is scheduled to be approved by May 2026.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.