The Issues · Taxes & Spending

Your tax bill changes. What actually got better?

That is the question residents should be able to answer without reading a 300-page budget. For major spending, show what was approved, what it cost, what people were promised and what actually happened.

Start here

If you are paying more, you deserve to know what you got for it.

Position

Where I stand

If Council raises taxes or approves major spending, residents should be able to see exactly what they paid for and whether the promised result happened.

Action

What I would push for

Publish a quarterly “Where Your Taxes Went — Ward 13” receipt using information the City already has. For major spending, show the price, the promised result and whether it happened. No announcement without showing where the money comes from.

Authority

Who controls what

Council approves the municipal budget, tax levy and major spending through the formal budget process. The Mayor also has budget powers under Ontario's strong-mayor rules. Staff prepare the financial reports. One councillor can propose amendments, ask questions, publish their own vote and vote on the budget, but cannot set the levy alone.

Plan

What this looks like in real life

Your tax bill goes up. The question at the kitchen table is not whether the City produced another budget document — it is: what got better? Did the road get fixed, did the bus become more reliable, did the project finish on time, did the service improve? If the answer is no, residents deserve to know why before the next increase is approved.

Result

What taxpayers should see

Major budget votes should come with a plain-language explanation. Capital projects should show the promised cost and date beside the actual cost and date. Residents should be able to tell what they got for the money.

First moves

What I would do first

30 days: put forward the budget-results reporting request. 60 days: publish my own itemized councillor expense standard. First quarter: publish my first Ward 13 tax-and-results receipt from available public records and continue pressing for the City-wide reporting standard.

Evidence & detail

The supporting budget record and accountability tools.

What needs attentionIf taxes go up, residents should be able to see what improved.

London’s property-tax-supported budget increased 8.7% in 2024, 7.4% in 2025 and 3.6% in 2026. Those are annual increases. The separate 7.5% four-year average refers to the originally adopted 2024–2027 Multi-Year Budget and should not be confused with the 2025 annual increase. The public-accountability question is how each budget change connects to service levels, finished projects and results residents can actually follow.

Sources. 2024 — City of London, 2024–2027 Multi-Year Budget adopted. 2025 — City of London, approved 2025 Annual Budget Update. 2026 — City of London, 2026 Annual Budget Update reporting. Verified September 19, 2026.

What I would put forwardTurn the City budget into a receipt people can actually understand

London already runs a Multi-Year Budget with quarterly variance reports, a business-case process, and Moody’s highest possible credit rating and substantial discretionary reserves — it just isn’t reported to you that way. I’d publish my own quarterly plain-language “Where Your Taxes Went — Ward 13” from those existing reports, require every major business case to name 2–3 clear results and report at year-end on whether they happened, and use budget debates to show where reserves could smooth a spike instead of surprising you with it.

A current exampleEmergency Services Campus: public safety and public accounting belong together.

London’s proposed Emergency Services Campus has approximately $186.8 million identified in its capital budget and plan through 2033. Separately published phase figures total approximately $183 million. Those figures may cover different scopes or periods; the difference is not evidence of missing money or an overrun.

Police and fire services need appropriate facilities and training. Before further major discretionary commitments, I would seek a public reconciliation of the estimates, component-level costs, amounts already spent or contractually committed, potential change-of-course liabilities and the financing implications for London taxpayers.

Support the services. Scrutinize the spending. Read the City’s Emergency Services Campus project information.

What residents should seeA budget residents can connect to results.

One simple receipt: what was approved, what it funded, what came in on time and on budget, and what result residents can actually verify.

The taxpayer testBefore adding another cost, show people the whole pile.

Before Council adds a material new cost, program, rule, contract or obligation, I would push for a plain-language Taxpayer Impact Statement: what already exists, what the new layer costs, who pays, what result is expected and when it will be reviewed.

▹Cumulative burden test. Show the combined effect of material taxes, fees and new obligations instead of presenting each increase as though it exists alone.

▹Program and sunset review. Put a review date on significant new programs and ask whether the cost, need and measurable result still justify continuation.

▹One clear public spending page. Put major spending, contracts, commitments, project status and results in one place people can actually follow.

Measure the pile, not just the next layer.

Where to go next.

Continue

Where the money actually went, tracked How the decisions get made What I’ll do about it

BISSON13 · Ward 13