Eryn Koncir
City/Township Council · Woolwich Ward 3
Back to candidatesBudget & Taxes
It should be more transparent and accessible
- Actively pursue provincial and federal transfer funding and grants
- Exploring new local revenue tools where permitted by provincial legislation
- Before asking taxpayers for more
- Council should understand where the money is going
- identify efficiencies and lower-priority spending
- and make sure existing services are delivering value. Where additional revenue is genuinely necessary to maintain core services and infrastructure
- increases should be transparent
- predictable and clearly justified.
- Ensure new development pays a greater share of long-term infrastructure costs
- Re-evaluate development incentives or subsidies that create long-term liabilities
- Recover growth-related costs as fully and fairly as provincial legislation allows
- including long-term operating
- maintenance and replacement impacts—not just upfront construction costs.
- Protect core services first
- look for more efficient ways to deliver them
- and review discretionary spending before asking taxpayers to absorb higher increases.
- Prioritize maintenance and state-of-good-repair over expansion
- Require lifecycle cost analysis before approving any new infrastructure
- Defer or cancel capital projects with low long-term return on investment
Please describe one concrete example of a trade-off you would support (or oppose) when costs rise faster than revenues.candidate's own words
If costs were rising faster than revenues, I would support deferring or cancelling a lower-priority capital expansion project before reducing core services or accepting a large tax increase. I would first want to understand the project’s full lifecycle cost, whether it is genuinely needed now, and what value it delivers compared with maintaining existing infrastructure. If the return is weak or the project creates significant future operating and replacement costs, deferral may be the more responsible choice.
Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on budgets?candidate's own words
My approach to municipal budgeting is to protect core services, maintain the infrastructure we already own, and make sure new spending is financially sustainable over the long term. Before asking taxpayers for more, Council should understand where the money is going, identify efficiencies, review lower-priority or discretionary spending, and make sure programs and capital projects are delivering value. I do not support arbitrary tax freezes or across-the-board cuts. Where additional revenue is genuinely necessary, increases should be transparent, predictable and clearly justified. I also believe Council should pay closer attention to lifecycle costs, reserve pressures and future replacement obligations so today’s decisions do not simply create larger costs for future taxpayers.
If you chose "It should be more transparent and accessible", please describe how.candidate's own words
Municipal financial information should be easier for residents to find, understand and connect to the decisions Council is making. I would support clearer public reporting that shows where tax dollars are going, how spending is changing over time, what major capital projects cost, how they are funded, and what future operating and replacement costs they create. Residents should also be able to see how investment and service levels differ across communities, where that information is available, rather than having to piece it together from multiple reports.