We spent hours combing through the City of Ottawa’s 2022 Budget and came across important insights that we believe are of interest to others.  These were presented at our Ottawa 2022 Budget Boot Camp, on Tuesday 16 November.

Our seminar presentation is available for all to review, behind the green button.

Our analysis starts with the big picture of Ottawa’s finances, how revenues are raised, and how spending is allocated to different priorities. For spending, we have looked at the budget in terms of its impact on SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION, and will provide insights on transportation and transit.

Contents

1.  BUDGET FUNDAMENTALS

How much does the City spend, and on what?

How much is paid for through tax dollars? What are other sources of funding?

How does the 2022 Budget compare to 2021? Which parts of the budget are growing fastest?

2.  INSIGHTS ON REVENUES

How do our property taxes compare to other municipalities?

Are there other innovative ways for Ottawa to raise revenues?

What exactly are “Reserves” and are they getting the full attention they deserve?

What is Ottawa’s debt situation?

3. INSIGHTS ON EXPENDITURES IN SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION

Does the Budget support transportation and climate objectives of the new Official Plan?

How does growth in active transportation spending compare to growth in roads spending?

How much are we spending on cycling? What will this look like in the future? Could we accelerate the build-out of the bike network?

How much of the transit budget is paid for by fares?

Could free transit be possible? 

Presented By

Budget Boot Camp is a public good presented by Neil Saravanamuttoo, the former chief economist of the G20’s work on infrastructure, and long-time employee of Finance Canada where he worked on many federal budgets. He can be reached at neil@socialmotion.ca