Issues & Answers
During the campaign, residents have raised questions with me at the door, by email and through social media. This page brings together my responses to some of those questions and other issues affecting Ward 4 and the City of Guelph.
I’ll continue adding to it as new questions and issues arise.
Property Taxes & Affordability
Guelph residents have experienced significant property tax increases over the current Council term. My second campaign piece compared Guelph’s cumulative tax increase with three similar Ontario municipalities — Brantford, Barrie and Kingston — and with the growth in average weekly earnings in Ontario.
The purpose of the comparison is not to suggest that Guelph should simply copy another municipality. Every city has different circumstances. It is to provide context for an important question: Are Guelph’s property tax increases reasonable and affordable relative to the experience elsewhere and to residents’ ability to pay?
The Comparison
Cumulative property tax increase over the current Council term
Guelph — 30.6%
Brantford — 19.4%
Barrie — 17.9%
Kingston — 16.9%
Ontario average weekly earnings — 15.3%
What the Numbers Include
The figures above show the cumulative increase in the published annual property tax impact over the current Council term. This provides a useful comparison of the property tax increases experienced in Guelph and the three comparator municipalities.
I have also reviewed the Council-controlled portion of the tax increase separately. That distinction is important because Council does not directly control every component of the total property tax bill.
Cumulative City-Controlled Tax Levy Impact, 2024–2026
This comparison looks at the portion of the tax levy attributable to services directly controlled by each municipal council, excluding outside boards, agencies and shared services where those amounts can be separately identified.
Cumulative Council-controlled increase, 2024–2026
Guelph — 13.0%
Brantford — 11.8%
Kingston — approximately 7.1%
Barrie — 6.1%
This comparison excludes outside boards, agencies and shared services that are not directly controlled by the respective municipal councils. It is intended to provide a more focused comparison of the spending decisions over which each Council has direct responsibility.
Methodology & Sources
Property tax comparison: The figures compare the cumulative increase in Guelph’s published annual tax-levy increases over the 2023–2026 Council term. Each municipality’s published annual tax-levy increases were compounded rather than simply added. For Guelph, the published annual increases of 4.46% (2023), 8.52% (2024), 6.78% (2025) and 7.87% (2026) compound to 30.57%, shown as 30.6%.
Council-controlled comparison: This comparison isolates the portion of the property tax increase attributable to spending under the direct control of each municipal council. Outside boards, agencies and shared services are excluded where they can be separately identified. Because municipalities report these components differently, the comparison is intended to provide additional context rather than suggest that every municipal budget is structured identically.
Income comparison: The 15.3% figure represents the change in Ontario average weekly earnings over the comparable period and is included as one measure of how household incomes have changed relative to property taxation.
Sources
City of Guelph — Previous Annual Budgets
Source for Guelph’s published annual tax-levy impacts for 2023 through 2026, used to calculate the cumulative 30.6% increase. City of Guelph Annual Budget Data
City of Brantford — 2026 Budget
Source for Brantford’s published annual property-tax increases used in the four-year comparison. City of Brantford - City Budget
City of Barrie — Budget & Business Plan
Source for Barrie’s annual tax impacts used in the four-year comparison. The City’s annual budget documents provide the underlying budget and tax-rate information. City of Barrie — Budget & Business Plan
City of Kingston — Budgets and Finances
Source for Kingston’s annual property-tax increases used in the four-year comparison. City of Kingston - Budget and Finances
Statistics Canada — Average Weekly Earnings
Source for the Ontario average weekly earnings comparison. The calculation uses Statistics Canada’s seasonally adjusted average weekly earnings, including overtime, for all employees. Statistics Canada — Average Weekly Earnings
Question:
Do you support free Transit?
I would not commit to a significant new spending proposal such as free transit before understanding its full cost, its effect on service, and how it compares with other priorities competing for limited public funds.
Council needs to be able to consider those priorities together. If Council commits to individual proposals before that process takes place, it becomes increasingly difficult to make objective choices about where taxpayers’ money will have the greatest benefit.
Affordability of transit is important. Guelph already provides reduced-fare programs for residents who qualify, and I would want to understand how well those programs are working and whether targeted improvements would be more effective and affordable than eliminating fares for everyone.
There is also a practical question that needs to be answered: could the existing transit system accommodate the additional ridership that free transit would be expected to generate? A substantial increase in ridership will require additional operating capacity, including more service hours and operators and, in all likelihood, additional buses. Those capital and operating costs, along with the time required to expand the fleet and service, need to be understood before making a commitment. A change of this magnitude would require significant planning and preparation and should not be presented as something that could simply be implemented in the near term.
My approach would be to look at the evidence, understand the alternatives and costs, and then make the decision as part of the City’s overall priorities—not make the commitment first and work out the implications afterward.