Roadmap Motion for Consideration of the 2026 Budgets

The recitals

• on 16 April 2025, Ottawa City Council approved a new service fee of $0.55 for pre-authorized debit (PAD) transactions on property tax and water utility accounts
• many residents use PAD to improve cashflow management across the year, whether by preference or necessity
• PAD payments provide flexibility and convenience, making them a widely used method not only for City payments but also for recurring payments to many private companies
• in 2025, 114,396 property tax accounts and 96,322 water utility accounts were registered on PAD plans, representing 32 per cent of property tax accounts and 36 per cent of water utility accounts
• Section 326(1) of the Municipal Act, 2001 authorizes a municipality to identify a special service, determine its related costs, designate the area receiving an additional benefit, calculate the portion of costs representing that benefit, and recover those costs from the benefitting users, reflecting what is commonly known as the “benefiter pays” principle
• , when City staff reviewed the administrative costs associated with the various payment methods offered, the disproportionate costs required for processing PAD transactions justified applying the “benefiter pays” principle
• a service that is adopted by the majority of Ottawa taxpayers and ratepayers would no longer be considered a specialized service, and subject to the “benefiter pays” principle