Our comments on the draft 2026 Budget

The BMRA has reviewed the updated Town draft budget, which set the tax levy increase to 4.34%.  

According to Budget draft, the components of the increase are:

• base operations at 2.13%,

• new spending: 0.73%

• allocation to the Asset Management Plan reserves will be 1.5%.

We recognize that efforts were made throughout the budget development process to control spending – starting with a levy increase target of 2.5% - as Council and Staff showed they were aware of Town resident financial pressures, and the uncertain economic situation that our country faces.

We also believe that setting aside 1.5% of the levy to strengthen our Asset Management Reserve was prudent, although the status of those reserves suggests that the issue should probably have been addressed earlier.

There are several questions and issues that we have with the proposed budget. Some are specific to the 2026 budget, while others are consistent with concerns that we have expressed with past budgets.

The key observations / issues are:

1 Using Staff vacancies to avoid a $4 garbage bag fee

To avoid applying the proposed $4 garbage bag fee, it was determined that unfilled staff vacancies will simply not be filled in 2026.

This causes BMRA to wonder whether those positions were ever truly necessary, and why as a matter of consistently pursuing operational efficiencies would those roles not already have been declared surplus.

The Town has stated that a Zero-Based Budgeting philosophy has been applied to this budget, and the Draft Strategic Plan identifies “Prioritize excellence and continuous improvement of all core services” as a strategic priority.  

Identifying unfilled vacancies as a source of potential budget savings seems to be more a case of backing into budget efficiencies, rather than pursuing them as a core operating principle.

2 Lack of Clarity

BMRA does not believe the Town is serving its residents with budget clarity when variance analysis is still made by comparing 2025 budget with 2026 budget.

The Town should be using projected actual 2025 spend as the basis for comparison to make the analysis credible. This is an issue that we have raised for several years.

Salaries, by far the largest individual expense line, is the one that we focus on the most. The budget shows a year to date 2025 actual as $12.1 million, vs a budget of $16.7 million.

This begs the question – what is the projected 2025 full year actual?

Is the $16.7 million 2025 budget a valid base on which to calculate the 2026 increase? Without that data, it is impossible to determine if the 2026 budget line for salaries is realistic.

3 How do new properties affect the budget?

The stated tax levy increase for current taxpayers comes to 4.34%.

What is not clear is the impact of adding new property owners to the tax roll in 2025. That funding allows for greater spending without impacting ratepayers.

This of course begs the question – what is the actual increase in projected spending 2026 vs 2025? That should be clearly stated.

4 Where is the long term financial projection?

A critical follow-up committed to by the Director of Finance is to create a long-term financial projection that would give a clearer picture of the Town’s financial health.

We must remain diligent in ensuring that the report is generated and shared with the public. Given the dramatic drop in Development Charges experienced in 2025, and rampant construction cost inflation,it is not clear that we are well positioned for the future capital funding requirements.

5 Are there adequate reserves to fund the Asset Management Program?

Are we facing dire financial challenges with the Town’s Asset Management Program?

There is little public awareness of the apparent financial shortfalls. Related to the prior point, the Town should provide a report detailing the current state of AMP reserves and demonstrate how the proposed AMP reserve allocation will contribute to its requirements.

Will the Town need to set aside funding for Asset Management Reserves into the foreseeable future, and at what level?

6 Funding for High Priority Issues

Recent public surveys in TBM have revealed some consistent, high priority issues.

Among these are the sourcing of family doctors to meet community demand and supporting the development of affordable housing.

The budget document should highlight the funding being allocated to address residents’ priority concerns, as demonstration of responsiveness to their constituents

Any Questions?