Marty Rempel

City/Township Council · Waterloo Ward 5

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

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

B. Service levels

Adjust service delivery models to reduce costs without reducing access

C. Capital & infrastructure

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

For Waterloo, I would support setting a clear target for a modest tax reduction and requiring Council and staff to identify efficiencies and lower-priority expenditures that can be deferred, reduced or eliminated to achieve it. I would not support simply cutting essential services or necessary infrastructure maintenance to produce a lower tax bill. Instead, I would look first at administrative costs, discretionary programs, duplication of services, consulting expenditures and projects that can reasonably be postponed. My concern is that continually increasing taxes to match rising costs is not a sustainable long-term strategy. Residents are facing higher costs in virtually every part of their household budgets, and municipal government has a responsibility to recognize that reality.

Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on budgets?candidate's own words

The budget should never be the source of economic inflation. Long term infrastructure should not add to debt. Infrastructure should be funded as much as possible up front and not exceed budgets

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

I would support a budget process that presents each major proposed increase alongside the alternatives: what it costs, what service it provides, whether it is essential, and what the consequences would be of delaying, reducing or eliminating it. Residents should be able to see not only the proposed budget, but also the choices Council is being asked to make. I would also support publishing a clear, plain-language summary showing how much of a typical property tax bill goes to each level of government and identifying the specific factors responsible for any municipal tax increase. Multi-year commitments and the future operating and infrastructure costs of major projects should be clearly identified rather than looking only at the current year’s expenditure.