Proposed 2023 Budget Directions, Timeline and Consultation Process

Council was asked to

1. the Rules of Procedure be suspended to consider the following motion related to the Standing Committee Budget Process. WHEREAS Standing Committees of Council are mandated to deliberate on the parts of the draft budget for which they have responsibility, including by hearing from public delegates; and WHEREAS it is critical that Standing Committees have the opportunity to recommend changes to the draft budget taking into account their own deliberation and the public input they receive; and WHEREAS the past practice of Council has not allowed Standing Committees to recommend increases to their respective draft budgets unless corresponding offsets were identified; and WHEREAS members of Standing Committees are not necessarily best placed to determine how best to finance recommended budget pressures, whether through offsets elsewhere in the draft budget, use of reserves or revenue generation; and WHEREAS the Committee of the Whole is the appropriate body to consider recommendations from Standing Committees on any identified budget pressures
2. Standing Committees be permitted to recommend increased investments to their respective budgets as financial pressures for consideration by Committee of the Whole even in the absence of recommended offsetting reductions elsewhere in the budget, and recommendations to increase the citywide rate or similar revenue sources to offset those pressures may be considered at Standing Committees.