Belleville City Council only needed one day to take a look at the 2025 draft operating budget.
Council wrapped up its operating budget discussions in a special meeting in council chambers at Belleville City Hall on Thursday.
The city will see a total tax levy increase of 9.4%, however, residents will likely see a tax increase hovering over or under five per cent depending on where in Belleville they live.
The tax rate increase by area would look as follows:
- Belleville Urban – 4.25%
- Cannifton Urban – 4.42%
- Cannifton Rural – 5.11%
- Belleville Rural – 5.35%
- Cannifton Rural to Urban – 6.27%
In over six hours, council listened to presentations and went through line by line of this year’s budget.
Council looked over the 2025 Police Services Board budget that came in at $28,993,500, an increase of 10.95% from the previous year’s budget.
It accounts for the majority of the tax levy increase.
In a presentation to council, chair of the Police Services Board, Heather Smith, board member Jim O’Brien and Police Chief Murray Rodd explained the increasing demands and complexity in policing, with a growing number of calls related to mental health, addiction, and homelessness issues.
They say this increase is putting a strain on the department’s resources.
Councillor Paul Carr said he would not support the Police Services Board budget citing a lack of clarity to the cost pressures presented.
“From 2018 to 2025, you’re looking at a 48.75% increase. In just the last two years if the 2025 budget proceeded, you’re looking at almost a 20% increase,” Councillor Carr explained. “There seems to be a lack of metrics. I know that’s being worked on.”
Councillor Barbara Enright-Miller, who sits on the Police Services Board, explained that the original proposal was at over 18% and that the board worked to trim it down to where it is now.
“It’s not a nice budget, but I say it is the budget we’re faced with right now to keep the level of service up that we have right now in our city. So I will be supporting it.”
The vote to move forward with the police budget was approved in a 7-2 recorded vote.
Dissenting no votes came from councillors Paul Carr and Kathryn Brown.
Another item that was looked over during operating budget discussions was the health unit. That budget came in at $1,307,500.
Councillors expressed their frustration at the provincial government following Hastings Prince Edward Public Health amalgamating with two other health units to form the South East Health Unit.
“I’m really disappointed in the Ontario government, because part of the reason we did the amalgamation was to save money and to make it more efficient. Guess what? We got the opposite in this situation,” Councillor Garnet Thompson said.
“I’m disappointed in it. There’s not much we can do about it, unfortunately, except maybe to not approve it and at this point, I’m going to make a motion not to approve the health budget.”
In a recorded vote, council voted 8-1 against the health budget as proposed.
The lone dissenting vote was Councillor Sean Kelly, who sits as a board member of the South East Health Unit.
Related to health, council discussed the proposed creation of the Family Physician Appreciation Fund, which shows an expenditure of $250,000 that is proposed to be funded from the Casino – Contingency Reserve Fund.
Councillor Carr expressed some concern of a potential slippery slope of funding private business since the physicians operate as private business.
“We’re going to start getting into the realm of funding private business, taking out the medical aspect. Is that a game we want to get into? Will that open up doors to other private businesses that say, ‘Hey, you’re funding this particular sector. We would like some funding to help with overhead costs.’ So there’s that slippery slope,” Councillor Carr said.
Councillor Chris Malette meantime said he would vote in favour of the creation of the fund, saying while the recruitment of physicians is a provincial responsibility, he didn’t like the alternative of not voting in support.
“We have to do what we can within reason to help them remain in our community. So I’m going to vote in favour of this. I don’t like to do it. It’s one of these situations where I’m almost holding my nose to do it. I don’t like again, bailing out the province for what they should be doing,” Councillor Malette told council.
“I don’t like the alternative if we don’t support this.”
A recorded vote saw a 7-2 approval of the new fund.
No votes came from councillors Paul Carr and Kathryn Brown.
The operating budget will be formally approved at a future meeting.
