"The City of Toronto's 2026 budget offers relief many homeowners were looking for in its property tax increase, but it also lays bare the massive amount of infrastructure work hanging over the city in the coming years which, in some cases, may be deferred. With budget season now in full swing at city hall, several city departments will sit in front of the budget committee this week to give presentations on their financial needs this year. Among them will be the parks and recreation department, which is caught up in a nearly $2 billion deferral of work in the 10-year capital plan, which is the city's plan to maintain, renew and grow infrastructure. That work was supposed to be funded by development charges that builders pay to the city, but recent provincial legislation made it so developers could pay those fees once their buildings are occupied, as opposed to when they get their building permits. The change means the city will receive that revenue years later than under the previous rules, so the work it would fund has to be put off, according to city budget documents."
"Under the proposed 2026 budget, the parks department would see a $214 million reduction in its 10-year capital plan. That deferral will hit community centre projects the hardest, Stephen Conforti, the city's chief financial officer, told reporters after the budget launch. You're looking at almost a cascading deferral across the entire plan, he said. Where project one may get pushed out 18 months, then project two, and so-on and so-forth."
Toronto's 2026 budget reduces the proposed property tax increase while exposing a substantial deferred infrastructure workload approaching $2 billion in the 10-year capital plan. Provincial changes now allow developers to pay development charges at occupancy rather than at building permit issuance, delaying revenues that funded planned projects. The parks and recreation capital plan faces a $214 million reduction, with community centre projects most affected. Library capital faces a $76 million deferment and waste services a $6 million hit. The revenue shift risks cascading delays across projects and could affect water services and roads budgets in 2027.
#toronto-budget-2026 #infrastructure-deferral #development-charges #parks-and-recreation #capital-plan
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