2020 Budget

City of Brockville Budget -  A Guide to Brockville’s 2020 Budget Process

The municipal budget is one of the most important items that Council will pass each year and affects every resident, employee and business in the City. 

Here you will find important information concerning the 2020 budget process:

• Budget process
• Budget overview
• Key dates
• How your tax dollars are spent
• Asset management plan
• Understanding your tax bill

How the budget process works:

There are many factors to consider while planning a budget, such as Council priorities, service levels, and asset conditions while being fiscally responsible.  Staff at the City of Brockville takes this responsibility seriously.

Municipal staff in Brockville begin working on the budget over the summer and fall months. Each Department reviews its activities and plans for the year ahead.  Current and prior year’s actual expenditures are taken into consideration on each line item in detail.  This information is used to project the required budget for the following year while considering, required service levels, work plans, and critical asset replacement.

Each department then meets with the City Manager, Treasurer and finance staff to review their budget requirements.  This review takes a critical look at each departments proposed budget and begins the process of looking at the budget as a whole for the City.  Service levels to the taxpayers of Brockville are an important consideration as well as the cost of those services.  Each of the City department’s ability to perform those services requires conscientious review of work plans, required staffing level, asset maintenance, and asset replacement.  It is also at this time when other funding opportunities such as Federal and Provincial grants, debt and possible cost sharing collaborations with neighbouring municipalities are considered.

This completes the preparation of the operating and capital budgets for presentation to Council.

Budget overview: 

When Municipalities set budget priorities, they need a balanced approach to ensure residents enjoy the same, and in some cases, increased services.

The City of Brockville’s budget is split between operating and capital budgets.  The operating budget is just as it sounds; it is the budget to run the daily operations of the City, such as public works, parks and recreation, transit, fire, police, customer service, building and planning, transit, economic development, water and wastewater.  Another large component of the operating budget is maintenance on the City’s assets that are managed through an asset management system.

The capital budget is for the purchasing or constructing tangible capital assets such as equipment, vehicles and road reconstructions. The tangible capital assets are managed as well through the asset management plan. 

Key dates and Meeting Agendas: 

• November 12, 2019  Budget Kick Off and overview of Asset Management Program
• November 26, 2019  Water and Wastewater Capital Budget
• December 10, 2019  Water and Wastewater Operating Budget
• January 14, 2020  Capital Budget
• January 28, 2020  City Operating Budgets-City Departments
• February 11, 2020  Community Partners
• February 18, 2020  HOLD tentative following FAC
• February 25, 2020  User Fees
• March 10, 2020  Budget Deliberation
• March 24, 2020  HOLD Budget Deliberation/Approval

All Meeting Agendas and Meeting Minutes: https://brockville.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingTypeList.aspx

How your tax dollars are spent: 

Graphs showing the breakdown of the 2019 budget: 

2019 Operating Budget by Category of Expenditure as a Percentage and 2019 Operating Budget by Department

Asset Management Plan: 

The asset management plan (AMP) is a strategy developed for the management of a municipality’s assets, including technical and financial management techniques over the life cycle of these assets.  AMP’s are used to optimize benefits, reduce risks and provide satisfactory levels of service to the community in a sustainable and cost effective manner.

You can find the City’s  Asset Management Plan here:  

Understanding Your Tax Bill: 

Taxes are calculated by multiplying the assessed value of a property and the combined tax rates that apply.   The combined tax rate is made up of two components; a municipal rate and an education rate as mandated by the Province.  The education portion of a tax bill is paid to the schoolboard listed on the property with The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).  The municipal tax rate is calculated by dividing the current year tax levy, approved by Council during the budget process, by the total weighted assessment for the municipality as a whole.  The 2019 tax rates for residential, commercial and industrial properties are shown below. 

2019 Property Tax Rates

Sample residential property calculation with a $250,000 assessment:

Assessed Value of Property x Combined Tax Rate = Property Taxes

250,000 x .014677737 = $3,719.43

The assessed value of your property is determined by MPAC with the intent to be the market value of that property.  The assessed value also determines what share of the property tax levy each property owner will pay.

If you have questions about your assessment, please contact MPAC at 1-866-296-6722 or visit the MPAC website: www.mpac.ca