Budgets & Financials
Budgets & Financials
The City’s budget is a strategic document that supports the achievement of collective goals. It is shaped by Council priorities, financial parameters, and legislative constraints and is guided by cost-effective, efficient, and sustainable solutions. Municipal operating and capital budgets are funded primarily by property taxes, user fees and grants, and transfers from other levels of government.
Each year, municipalities are required to balance their budgets and to allocate a set amount of funding to service areas in order to maintain service levels. Unlike provincial and federal government levels, municipalities are not allowed to budget for deficits.
The City maintains four-year operating budget projections as well as 15-year capital plans. The City’s annual operating budget pays for a wide range of municipal services including fire and emergency services, roads and parks maintenance, recreation programs, waste collection and management, transit, policing, and library services. The City’s capital budget funds capital maintenance and replacement of infrastructure that support municipal service delivery as well as other capital priorities as determined by City Council.
Learn more about how the City develops its budget in this short video.
2024 Operating and Capital Budgets
Kingston City Council passed its 2024 operating and capital budgets on January 16. Watch the recorded 2024 Operating and Capital presentations on the City's YouTube channel.
Under the new Strong Mayor Powers legislation, the budget was proposed by Mayor Bryan Paterson and provided to Council for their consideration. This follows Section 284.16 of the Municipal Act, 2001, which assigns the powers and duties for proposing and adopting a budget to the mayor.
The Mayor’s 2024 budget proposal includes:
- Operating budget of $477 million
- Capital budget of $131 million
- To include an additional $1 million in support for family physician recruitment, as well as $40,000 earmarked for additional crossing guards.
- 2.5 per cent property tax increase plus 1 per cent for capital investment, incorporating inflationary impacts, growth pressures, and maintain existing service levels. The 3.5% is currently one of the lowest property tax rate increases among Ontario cities with populations over 100,000.
2024 Municipal Budget guidelines and priorities
The Mayor directed City staff to prepare a balanced 2024 annual budget, aligning with the following criteria:
- Prepare an operating and capital budget with a property tax increase no higher than 3.5%, aiming to be among the lowest of large cities in Ontario.
- Incorporate additional investments in expanding housing options, providing new transit and recreation opportunities, facilitating the transition to electrification, and enabling creative healthcare solutions for residents.
- Include sufficient investments for initiatives outlined in the Council-approved 2023-2026 Strategic Priorities and Implementation Plan.
- Pause the annual levy for the Green CIP program at 0.16% for the 2024 fiscal year. Additionally, continue public consultation for the 2024 annual budget and present a summary of feedback to Council for consideration with the draft 2024 annual budget.
- Prepare a staff report and a draft the 2024 annual budget for presentation by the Mayor to Council on or before January 15, 2024.
2024 Budget Presentations
- Budget Overview
- Chief Administrative Office
- Community Services
- Corporate Services
- Finance & Fiscal Services
- Growth & Development Services
- Infrastructure, Transportation & Emergency Services
Credit Rating
On October 12, 2023, the City of Kingston once again received a stellar AA+ credit with a stable outlook from Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings. This rating is the second highest the agency can give a government. To find out how the City's credit rating affects our ability to borrow money or issue debentures, see the FAQs below.
Explore past budgets and financial statements.
Ontario Audit and Accountability Fund Program
Intake 1
In 2021, the City received a grant through the Ontario Audit & Accountability Fund Program to have an external agency review employee payroll scheduling, time and attendance processes. KPMG was selected to identify opportunities for the City to modernize and create efficiencies.
The areas reviewed by KPMG included:
- scheduling of employee time
- managing employee time-off requests and approvals
- reporting time
- integrations between various systems
- payroll processing
Download the Payroll Scheduling, Time and Attendance Review report.
Next steps include staff developing a plan to evaluate and implement the solutions identified.
Intake 2
Funded under the second round of the Audit and Accountability Fund Program, the City engaged KPMG to review how Housing and Social Services could better integrate and digitize its services for clients accessing housing, childcare, and social assistance services, as well as to identify cost savings and efficiencies. Branded as “One Focus,” the project puts the client at the centre of all services and aims to create a streamlined human services system that focuses on people and provides a “one-window” service integration approach across the department’s municipally managed programs.
Download the One Focus project report.
The department has already started implementing some of the identified priorities, including a new vision for organizational design and the establishment of staff working groups to advance several initiatives.
Intake 3
In August 2021, the Province announced a third phase of the Audit and Accountability Fund to help large municipalities improve local service delivery and ensure taxpayers’ dollars are being used efficiently. Similar to the first two intakes, the program funded a third-party review with the objective of finding efficiencies and modernizing services.
The Audit and Accountability Funding Program under Intake 3 was used to carry out an independent third-party review of the City’s online and in-person point of sale systems and related processes with the objective of optimizing and modernizing customer payment processing and improving customer service. KMPG LLP was selected to complete a review of our corporate point of sale system and provide recommendations as to replacement and/or consolidation of this and our other payment related systems.
Download the Payment Process Review Final Report.
Next steps include staff developing a plan to evaluate and implement the solutions identified.
Frequently Asked Questions
The following are frequently asked questions regarding the City's budgets & financials.
What is an operating budget?
Operating budgets outline estimates for revenues and expenditures associated with the operations of City services for the fiscal year. The approved operating budget shows what the City will spend on programs and services such as transit, garbage and recycling collection, parks, recreation programs and road maintenance. The City produces annual operating budgets as well as three-year operating forecasts.
What is the capital budget?
The capital budget outlines the City’s plans to fund/support capital assets like buses, snowplows, buildings, streets, pathways and other infrastructure that support the delivery of programs and services. Capital budgets include costs and related sources of funding to maintain, replace and refurbish these kinds of assets over their useful lives. The City maintains 15-year capital expenditure and funding models.
What is the municipal utility operating budget?
Utilities Kingston – a separate corporation that is wholly owned by the City of Kingston – prepares budgets for the municipal utilities that it manages and operates on behalf of the City, including, water, wastewater, fibre optic and natural gas systems. These services are funded through user rates and are not supported by property taxes. Review the 2021 Utilities Kingston budget.
How does the City fund its operating and capital budgets?
Funds flow into the City from property taxes, user fees, and other revenue sources to be used to pay for operating costs related to the delivery of services as well as the required capital costs by transferring monies annually to the City’s capital reserve funds. The capital reserve funds are then used to finance capital expenditures (investments in capital assets), either by a pay-as-you-go method whereby funds are taken from the reserve funds to pay for the capital costs directly or through the issuance of debt whereby funds are borrowed to pay for the capital costs and the capital reserve funds are utilized to pay future debt principal and interest charges.
What are reserves and reserve funds?
Reserves and reserve funds are monies set aside to fund capital expenditures, similar to having personal savings accounts for anticipated needs. They are also used to manage unanticipated expenses and to support the City’s long-term financial stability.
How does the City carry out its planning and budgeting exercises?
Based on community engagement and other resident input, Council establishes the city’s strategic priorities and service levels. Departmental work plans and supporting budgets are developed to achieve these initiatives and to support the ongoing operation of City facilities, services, and programs. A collaborative approach to planning allows Council to identify and allocate resources in an affordable and sustainable manner.
How does Council arrive at its annual budget?
Budgets are developed by City staff based on Council's strategic priorities, directions, and fiscal guidelines. An annual budget engagement process provides the opportunity for the community to provide input to the budget development process. Council, sitting as Committee of the Whole, reviews and deliberates draft budget proposals as presented by City departments and external agencies and approves the final operating and capital budgets.
How does the City address increasing demands for service with limited financial resources?
City staff must develop a budget that addresses the demands for services and programs while, remaining mindful of the pressure on the tax rate and the broader economic environment. To meet these challenges the city’s planning and budgeting process includes the following elements:
Incorporate a coordinated strategic approach to planning and budgeting.
The City synchronizes the planning and budgeting cycle by developing a multi-year corporate strategic plan. The four-year Council Strategic Plan and service level priorities are what guide decision making, policy development, and effective resource allocation over the Council term. On May 21, 2019, Council set a vision to make Kingston a smart, livable and leading city, and identified the following five strategic priorities:
- Improve walkability, roads, transportation
- Demonstrate leadership on climate crisis
- Strengthen economic development opportunities
- Increase housing affordability
- Foster healthy citizens and vibrant places
Departmental operating plans and related operating and capital budgets are developed to support municipal services and the strategic direction set by Council and to allocate the necessary resources.
Multi-year budgeting forecasting
The City prepares 4-year operating budgets and 15-year capital plans. These multi-year forecasts allow us to recognize and understand expenditure and funding patterns, forecast expected changes over time to funding and/or services, and most importantly provide the framework for identifying and implementing longer-term budgeting solutions.
Monitoring revenue and spending targets
Financial Services and City departments monitor revenue and expenditure budget variances on a regular basis. Operating and capital budget variance reports are reviewed monthly and presented to Council on a quarterly basis. Operations are managed with the objective of having a balanced budget at year-end. Regular monitoring helps to identify budget variances early on that may require management attention.
Lobby provincial and federal governments for grants and new sources of funding
To assist with infrastructure rejuvenation, the City continues to monitor and apply for grant opportunities and other sources of funding from the upper levels of government. Cities cannot and will not be able to address the increasing need for infrastructure investment on their own. Cooperation and support from federal and provincial governments is essential.
How does the City's credit rating affect our ability to borrow money or issue debentures?
The City's credit rating demonstrates the City's strength in financial management practices and positions it to secure funds on the investment market at attractive interest rates.