• Put tax increases on a path towards the inflation rate, reversing recent higher-than-inflation trends.

  • Ensure effective spending, protect services and increase taxes as a last resort.

  • Encourage local business growth to expand the commercial tax base and lower pressure on homeowners.

  • Expand attainable housing options.

Peterborough, like many cities across Canada, is experiencing a crisis in affordability.
In addition to the rise in the cost of rent, groceries, and other goods, municipal taxes have increased at a rate that has almost tripled inflation.
The city needs to implement budgets that make sense and support a community where citizens can prosper and grow and where poverty can be reduced.
The 444 municipalities in Ontario are all tightly regulated by the province. Working effectively with our MPP is essential to better understanding provincial priorities and to maximizing provincial funding. Additionally, Mike will go to Queen’s Park directly – working with other mayors – to get the funding our communities deserve for infrastructure, housing, and social services.
Here are Mike’s ideas to make life more affordable and to help people find homes they need.

Property Taxes

We need to hold the line on property tax increases. Over the past four years, property taxes have increased over 30% which is several times the rate of inflation and the rate of our comparator communities. When tax increases outpace inflation, it increases the burden on renters, homeowners and business owners. It makes it harder for young families to buy their first home and harder for retirees to stay in the home they love.

YEAR ONE (2027)

  • Examine thoroughly the results and recommendations of the city’s Effectiveness and Efficiency Review. This report, costing $350,000, cannot be shelved. It must be used as the starting point to ensure financial accountability, transparency, clearer reporting structures and more effective public service.

  • Set a four-year plan for moving property tax increases closer to rate of inflation (predicted by the Bank of Canada to be around 2%). Set a four-year spending vision as a guide for 2026-30 council term.

  • Break down silos that prevent city departments from working together and address issues with service delivery.

  • Review revenue generation, undertake new revenue generation activities, including expansion of parking permit system.

  • Conduct an inventory of all municipal discretionary reserve accounts; direct surplus funds to infrastructure or housing renewal.

  • Direct all departmental carryovers to infrastructure or housing renewal.

YEAR TWO (2028)

  • Set budget cap to the rate of inflation at the start of the budget cycle.

  • Ensure city has moved to zero-base budgeting.

  • Keep tighter track of expenses. Review all current user fees and fines, including Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) ensure both fairness and efficiency in levying and in collection.

YEAR THREE (2029)

  • Revisit Efficiency Review to verify all the issues identified have been addressed.

  • Assess effectiveness of service changes; address gaps; correct errors.

YEAR FOUR (2030)

  • Undertake community round table on taxes and spending; are residents feeling that the city is more accountable?

Attainable, Affordable Housing

Affordable, attainable housing is a major concern across Canada. Mike, working with council, will direct the city’s efforts to house the most vulnerable as well as to provide options for those who feel that a stable, desirable home is beyond their means.

The city has currently pledged to create 4700 new homes by 2031. Mike would like to see the city exceed that goal.

YEAR ONE (2027)

  • Create a Mayor's Advisory Committee on Housing with key stakeholders including non-profit organizations, the city, and private interests. Focus will be on frank and productive conversations about how to break current bottlenecks in the process.

  • Renew the city’s focus on affordable apartment units. Continuing to create large, single-family dwellings will not solve our current housing crisis.

  • Follow the city’s Official Plan guidance regarding where intensification should occur, focusing on downtown renewal.

  • Review all current projects and expedite permitting and inspections, especially for non-profit builders.

  • Review current Community Improvement Plans (CIPs) that are to foster housing.  Evaluate effectiveness and use.

YEAR TWO (2028)

  • Expand the property-assisted loan program to help with ARUs, make standard plans available as resources.

  • Make necessary changes to CIPs to increase efficiency.

  • Streamline the building process by reducing the time it takes homeowners and developers to get city permits, inspections and other provincially mandated requirements. Conduct an analysis of the city’s workflow to identify bottlenecks and other common issues builders encounter.

  • Ensure that all new subdivisions have an affordable housing component of townhouse or apartment spaces.

YEAR THREE (2029)

  • Review every property owned by the City of Peterborough with an eye on using underutilized properties for rent-geared-to-income units and more subsidized housing. Pursue federal and provincial funding to build these new homes.

  • Explore creative solutions to maximize use of current housing stock, i.e. city-led programs to pair seniors with students or young professionals to reduce the number of people living precariously or unhoused and expand home supports.

YEAR FOUR (2030)

  • Review 2031 housing targets; lay groundwork for next four-year targets.