Media Release - County Council approves revised 2025 Budget
Media Release
Cobourg, ON – December 18, 2024 – Northumberland County Council has approved a revised County Budget for 2025 as part of the multi-year budget introduced last year, spanning 2024 through 2026. Aligned with the County’s 2023-2027 Community Strategic Plan, the revisions to the 2025 budget focused on identifying cost savings and operational efficiencies while prioritizing investments in affordable housing, service priorities, and growth-enabling infrastructure to meet the evolving needs of the community.
The approved budget totals $235.1M, with a base levy set at $79.8M. This amounts to an estimated $92 increase for a median-assessed homeowner in Northumberland, based on property assessments. This is subject to adjustments in 2025 based on tax policy and information from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporate (MPAC).
"The revised 2025 County Budget reflects the difficult balance Council is striving for, to maintain affordability for residents while continuing to advance key operational priorities for our residents, and deliver critical services on which people rely. By carefully managing resources and identifying efficiencies, we have worked to minimize impacts on taxpayers while ensuring that essential services, infrastructure investments, and strategic initiatives are prioritized."
In 2024, the County submitted its first ever first-three-year budget through to 2026. Earlier this year, County Council directed that staff reopen the budget and review the 2025 portion to find efficiencies in infrastructure and operations. Today, Council deliberated on the revised budget, considering proposed cost-saving measures.
In the end, Council made some difficult but prudent decisions to lower the projected tax increase. 12 budgeted items for 2025 operations and infrastructure were either adjusted or postponed, amounting to $810,000 in savings. Council also approved adjustments to estimated revenue from interest and user fees for 2025, amounting to a $700,000 impact. This resulted in a final levy increase of 6.12% - down from 8.64%.
“Our budget deliberations show our commitment to addressing the rising financial pressures of operations while recognizing the financial stresses residents are experiencing here in Northumberland,” states Warden Ostrander. “Decisions made ensure we can continue delivering critical services while being mindful of the challenges faced by our residents and community.
“Council takes seriously the responsibility entrusted to us to manage County finances with care, especially in these uncertain times. This budget reflects our focus on meeting the community’s needs today while planning wisely for the future. We know that every dollar counts because, ultimately, there is one taxpayer footing the bill. Each year, we remain committed to finding efficiencies and making thoughtful adjustments to ensure we deliver value and maintain services that matter most to our residents."
Council also voted today to hold a special meeting in January to continue the work of finding operational efficiencies and identifying cost savings. Once scheduled, the date for this meeting will be posted to Northumberland.ca/Council.
Updated budget documents incorporating today’s changes will be available at Northumberland.ca/Budget by mid-January.
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For more information:
Kate Campbell
Director, Communications
Northumberland County
Phone: 905-372-3329 x2335
Email: campbellk@northumberlandcounty.ca
Web: www.northumberlandcounty.ca
About Northumberland County
Located on the traditional territory of the Mississauga, Northumberland County is a thriving community just one hour east of Toronto along Highway 401, with easy access to urban centres to the north, east and west. As the upper tier level of municipal government for the region, Northumberland County’s vision is to bring together people, partnerships and possibilities for a strong and vibrant Northumberland. Our community includes seven distinct yet complementary municipalities, with County Council comprised of the Mayors of each of these member municipalities:
• Township of Alnwick/Haldimand
• Municipality of Brighton
• Town of Cobourg
• Township of Cramahe
• Township of Hamilton
• Municipality of Port Hope
• Municipality of Trent Hills