2025 Budget

2025 Budget Survey

The budget survey is now closed, thank you to all who participated. The information gathered through the survey will be used to help Council and staff understand satisfaction with the services delivered by the Municipality, which can help us determine where to increase, maintain, or decrease funding.

The results of the survey are available in the menu to the right, under the heading Budget Survey Results.

Municipal Budget Process

Each year, Municipality of Port Hope staff work hard to develop the Capital and Operating Budgets that address the unique needs of our community and pave the way for a sustainable future. This process is one of the most important tasks carried out by staff and takes many months of planning before it is presented to Council for consideration.

Watch this quick video on how a municipal budget is developed to learn about the municipal budget process.

Budget development

The municipal team has spent several months preparing a draft for the 2025 operating and capital budgets. This is one of the team's most important tasks, requiring a lot of planning before it goes to Council for review. Right now, the budgets on this website are just proposals from staff. They include recommendations for the operating budget, which covers the costs needed to keep things running and deliver services. Staff have also made recommendations for the capital budget, which deals with big projects and future needs for things like acquiring, maintaining, and replacing municipal assets.

Significant budget impacts

The 2025 budget faces two main challenges. First, historical underinvestment in infrastructure by the Municipality necessitates a significant boost in funding to ensure the continued smooth operation of our services. Second, the escalation of market prices has a widespread impact on various budgetary components, including expenditures on materials, personnel, fuel, and equipment. Addressing inflation proves particularly difficult for infrastructure, where costs experience a more pronounced increase compared to routine daily expenses.

The levy explained

The Municipal levy refers to the amount of money that a municipal government raises through property taxes to fund its operations and services. The Municipality relies on various revenue sources such as grants, user fees, funding from other levels of government, etc. to cover the costs of providing services. Property taxes are a significant part of this revenue, and the municipal levy represents the total sum of money collected from property owners within the municipality.

The overall municipal levy doesn't directly mean your property tax bill will go up by the same percentage. The tax base includes all taxpayers—residential, commercial, and industrial. About half of your property tax goes to cover Port Hope's needs, while the rest goes to Northumberland County and local School Boards. How much you pay depends on factors like your property's assessed value compared to others, whether you live in the urban or rural area, the services you receive (like policing), and how much our community grows with new residents and businesses.

Council budget discussions

Council will meet for a full day Finance Committee meeting on November 19, 2024, beginning at 9:00 a.m., in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. During this session, Council will thoroughly examine, evaluate, and discuss the proposed 2025 budget. The meeting is open to the public and will be live streamed on the Municipality’s YouTube channel.