The City budget process is well underway. Council approved the water rates and user fees for 2023 during their first meeting cycle. Council deferred approving the capital budget to give themselves times to actually read the budget book first. City staff have not yet finalized their 2023 operating budget proposal. The Hamilton Police Service says it needs a 6.71 percent budget increase to provide “adequate and effective police services.” 2023’s budget proposal is split between $190,020,482 for operating (up from $180,133,354 in 2022) and $5,830,526 (up from $3,409,185). 13 new police officer positions are proposed in the budget, along with 18 new civilian employees. Hamilton Police state the service needs to hire 13 new officers each year until 2030 to match population growth and maintain “the current Cop-to-Pop (population) ratio of 146 Officers per 100,000 population”. This average is 176 across Ontario and 183 nationally. TPR's Budget Summary Story. The Police Board passed the budget without amendment on a split vote, PSB Member Ward 2 Clr Cameron Kroetsch voted against the budget. The debate at the Police Board was unnecessarily tense when Police Board Chair Pat Mandy, a provincial appointee, tried to dissuade Kroestch from asking questions. Mandy suggested Kroetsch should ask questions in private after the budget approval meeting. Kroetsch asked four questions during which Mandy asked, "you didn’t have opportunity to ask them at the committee? I just want to move us on." TPR story on the meeting debate here. With Police Board approval, City Council will debate the police budget on January 12, 2023. Council can choose to approve the budget or enter into a budget arbitration process at the Ontario Civilian Police Commission. Ward 2 Clr Cameron Kroetsch's attempt to increase councillors' office budgets to $375,000 per year was defeated on November 30 in a series of divided votes. The cost of this first proposal was $1.2-million per year. Councillors voted for and against it for a myriad of reasons. Some were reluctant to pass an increase outside the budget process, others opposed any increase in principle, and others wanted it debated more wholesomely. At Council on December 7, Kroetsch "lifted" the committee item and changed his motion to refer the proposed increase to the 2023 operating budget process. He decreased the proposed increase to $40,000 for each councillor's office. The price tag for this is $600,000, half his original motion. Councillor budgets will continue to vary, using an existing formula.. In empty posturing at Council, Ward 6 Clr Tom Jackson added a clause stating the office budget increase cannot be used for councillor pay and benefits. The Municipal Act forbids councillors from using their office budgets for personal benefit. [Councillors must vote on their remuneration package in public session as per Section 283 of the Act] Jackson's redundant clause was included in the amended motion. The amended motion passed unanimously 16-0. Councillors took the opportunity to speak to the motion by stating there is a public expectation of responsive service from councillors, and their current budgets do not adequately fund doing this. The budget increase will be voted upon near the end of the budget process. The Dundas Wastewater Treatment Plant was built with a design life of 60 years. In its 73rd year of operation, it must be replaced. Past councils delayed replacement for the past two decades, hoping for the federal government or province to fund the project. Those delays mean costs have gone up. Hamilton's Water Director Nick Winters told Council the 2015 replacement cost estimate of $50-million is now $140-million. That's just for a bare minimum replacement. $300-million is the cost of building a treatment facility that meets the City's commitments in the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan to improve water quality in Cootes Paradise. Staff will return to Council in mid-2023 with Plant replacement options and budgets. You can watch on YouTube here. City staff expect to increase the City's budget by an additional 4.3 percent in 2024, 3.9 percent in 2025 Staff's conceptual operating budget estimates for 2024 and 2025 were shared with Council in early November during orientation. The estimates are already being exceeded. The Hamilton Police Service Board is debating a 6.91 percent request for 2023. City Hall staff used a 2.1 percent increase for their estimate. The Hamilton Public Library, for example, is seeking a 3.5 percent increase for 2023 [see next brief]. The staff projections assumed 2.9 percent. The Library is asking for a budget increase of 3.5 percent for 2023, which is approximately $1.15-million above the 2022 annual budget of $32.7-million.