mayor mark sutcliffe and ottawa city councillors are back in their chairs at andrew s. haydon hall on wednesday. the work of the mayor and council doesn’t exactly shut down over the summer, but the first meeting of the school year undeniably marks a new agenda at city hall. here is a look at some of the big topics we can expect to see in 2024-25.
brace for budget drama after ottawa’s summer of discontent
if you don’t think mayor sutcliffe has spent his summer worrying about the city budget — well, good morning, rip van winkle.
in august, while most city residents were soaking up the sunshine, the mayor was launching his fairness for ottawa campaign, urging people to join him in demanding more money for the city from the federal and provincial governments. the feds in particular, sutcliffe said, were stiffing the city on pilts, the payments in lieu of the property tax that the city can’t charge it.
the feds get to decide “how much their property is worth, what property class it belongs to, what tax rate they pay, all on their own. so, if they want to pay less, they pay less,” sutcliffe said, in a message aimed straight at voters. “and they do pay less … much less than they should.”
pilt was worth $162 million last year, which sounds like a lot, but is really just a pittance in the city’s $4.6-billion budget. but, when you’re scrimping, as every homeowner knows, every million counts.