Anna Meksavanh

Regional Council · Region of Waterloo

All topics Housing Getting Around Climate Food Growth & Planning Budget & Taxes Water

Budget & Taxes

Do you think the Region's or municipality's budget process should be more transparent and accessible to residents?single choice

It should be more transparent and accessible

Municipal and regional costs have generally risen faster than revenues restricted by property tax rules and limited local revenue tools. How would you balance tax increases against maintaining service levels and long-term financial sustainability?select up to 3 per part

A. Revenue approaches

Moderate, predictable tax increases to maintain service levels
Actively pursue provincial and federal transfer funding and grants
Exploring new local revenue tools where permitted by provincial legislation

D. Growth & cost recovery

Ensure new development pays a greater share of long-term infrastructure costs
Re-evaluate development incentives or subsidies that create long-term liabilities

B. Service levels

Adjust service delivery models to reduce costs without reducing access

C. Capital & infrastructure

Prioritize maintenance and state-of-good-repair over expansion
Require lifecycle cost analysis before approving any new infrastructure

Please describe one concrete example of a trade-off you would support (or oppose) when costs rise faster than revenues.candidate's own words

When municipal costs rise faster than revenues, I would strongly support adjusting regional development charges to fully capture growth costs, while deferring capital expansion projects that can wait to prioritize financial constraints. This will help to ensure that existing taxpayers are not forced to subsidize a budget shortfall for infrastructure designed to serve new builds, while allowing us to reevaluate policies affecting our long-term costs. By reevaluating our long-term policies to favor compact growth, we ensure that we aren't locking future generations into a permanent infrastructure deficit.

If you chose "It should be more transparent and accessible", please describe how.candidate's own words

Our regional budget process works best when it is fully transparent, welcoming, and easy for every resident to understand. While the Region of Waterloo manages complex finances, we have a wonderful opportunity to make these large budget documents much more accessible to the public. We can build on the excellent communication style used during the early stages of the ION Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, which successfully used clear pictographs and straightforward messaging to connect with our community. My goal is to support the creation of plain-language communication that clearly shows a friendly, dollar-for-dollar breakdown of how property taxes are invested in our services and to have it shared in multiple ways with residents. Hosting collaborative town halls with helpful visual tools, we can ensure residents feel truly included and heard throughout the entire budget planning process.