The City of Ottawa unveiled it’s proposed budget for 2025 which among other things contains a 3.9 per cent tax increase and a five per cent increase in transit fares for OC Transpo and O-Train users.

More than one quarter of the proposed tax increase, or one per cent, is accounted for as a direct result of an eight per cent hike in the transit levy.

For the owner of an average home with a market value assessment of $415,000, a 3.9 per cent tax increase will equate to an additional $168 on the municipal portion of property tax bill. The amount could be higher or lower depending on the market value assessment of your home. Keep in mind that your tax bill also includes a school board levy which is set by the province.

In practical terms, the five per cent increase in transit fares will see an adult monthly pass jump from $128.75 to $135.

Seniors 65 and over who use the transit system will be especially hard hit as the cost of a senior monthly pass will more than double in 2025 from $49 to $108.

Meanwhile, passes for youth age 13-17 are being scrapped altogether. They will have to pay the same $135 for a monthly pass as adult riders.

Just what type of impact the higher fares will have on ridership that has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels is anybody’s guess. In the meantime, homeowners are being asked to make up the difference through the eight per cent hike on the transit portion of their tax bill.

While a significant portion of the proposed tax increase that isn’t related to transit will go to support increases in compensation for the city’s workers in 2025 including policemen, firefighters and paramedics, there will be enough additional revenue generated through growth to hire 22 more firefighters, 23 more paramedics, and 10 additional bylaw staff.

Streamlining and efficiencies will also yield more than $54 million in savings, some of which will be invested in local projects in the city’s wards, although details on which projects will be funded in each ward were not immediately available.

Aside from the proposed increase in property taxes and transit fares, Ottawa residents will also pay more for everything from rink rentals to membership fees for the city’s recreational programs, as user fees will see a three per cent increase across the board. On street parking rates and the cost to park in a municipal parking facility will increase in 2025 as well.

Residential water and sewer bills will also be going up next year with the storm-water rate increasing by 12 per cent, the wastewater rate by three per cent and the water service charge by two per cent.

Last but by no means least, the solid waste user fee, which covers everything from garbage pick up, to waste diversion, to the cost of managing and maintaining the city’s landfill sites, is going up from $201 a year for a single family household to $243 a year, and that’s on top of the three-item limit that was recently put in place for residential curbside garbage pick up. If you want to put out more then three items, you have to pay for special yellow bags.

The proposed budget will now be broken down by each individual department and presented to the city’s various standing committees over the next three weeks.

The final budget deliberations will be conducted by city council on Dec. 11.

To learn more about the proposed 2025 operating and capital budgets, you can visit ottawa.ca/budget.