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Treasurer discusses capital program ahead of municipal budget

December 11, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

The capital budget aims to balance Orangeville’s infrastructure needs with taxpayers’ affordability.

Cheryl Braan, the town’s treasurer, provided details about the 2026 municipal capital budget during a special meeting Dec. 9. The consolidated spending plan with details about capital and operating expenditures and the year’s OPP service bill was expected to be discussed Dec. 10.

The proposed 2026-2035 capital program provides $64.4 million in investments in critical infrastructure in 2026 and $320.7 million across the 10-year planning horizon.

About $44 million of the 2026 capital budget includes projects carried over from this year. They include vehicle replacements, road renewal, stormwater rehabilitation, transit bus replacements, trail and park development, construction of the town’s new fire station, and water supply and storage upgrades.

“This aligns with our theme of finishing what we started and continuing to invest in what matters,” Braan said.

The budget includes $20 million in new requests for road reconstruction, municipal vehicles, water and wastewater infrastructure renewal, and various facility upgrades.

The proposed capital program contemplates total debt issuance of $47.7 million across the 10-year planning horizon, of which $14.9 million is identified in 2026.

Property taxes will pay for the lion’s share of the capital program next year to the tune of $34 million. That’s 53 per cent of the tab.

Water and wastewater rates, along with debt and reserve funds, will cover another 16 per cent of the $10 million needed. Development charges are expected to cover another 16 per cent of the program for 2026.

Grants, subsidies, and third-party recoveries will cover the final 15 per cent, for just under $10 million.

“In order to be financially stable in the long run, we really do need to pay attention to our debt levels,” Braan said. “As it currently stands, the 10-year capital program contemplates debt issuances of almost $50 million in the next five years.”

Orangeville is at about six per cent of its province-mandated annual debt repayment limit. That’s projected to climb to more than nine per cent of that limit in the next five years. However, that would still be below the town’s self-imposed ceiling of 12 per cent of the repayment limit, which is part of its long-term borrowing policy.

All of which is well below the province’s limit of 25 per cent of revenue excluding development charges that could be used for debt servicing.

Development charge reserve funds are projected to be in a deficit over the next 10 years. Braan referenced a resident’s question during the Dec. 8 meeting about possible courses of action should development charges fall off.

Orangeville resident Mark Middleton asked whether the town has a plan to address the lack of such revenue over the next three to five years.

The municipality would continue to have capital projects that would need to be carried out, though some may be deferred, he said.

He suggested those projects could deplete reserve funds in the absence of development charges.

Middleton wondered if relying on reserves might result in a future tax rate increase to replenish those funds.

Tim Kocialek, the town’s infrastructure services general manager, said Dec. 8 that there are no plans to decrease development charges. The nature of revenue from such sources is that of an ebb and flow stream.

“You’ll have peaks and valleys in the development charges, but we don’t have any anticipation at this time that it will be topped up with tax dollars,” Kocialek said.

On Dec. 9, Braan said staff would first review planned projects to see which could be paused until there are sufficient collections to cover the costs. Another option would be to take on more growth-related debt.

Or, she said, the town could borrow from its tax and user rate reserves and then repay those reserves.

“At the end of the day, we would need to strike a balance between ensuring only infrastructure projects that are critical for growth to proceed … are prioritized ahead of projects that don’t necessarily inhibit development from proceeding,” she said.

Critical projects would be ensuring the integrity of water and wastewater infrastructure. The lower priority work would be widening roads, she said. Road congestion can be tolerated until development charges are received.

“More broadly speaking, the trend seems to indicate higher levels of investment over the next four years which is drawing down on reserve balances overall,” Braan said.

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