Building Whitby's Budget
Community engagement is an important part of the Town's annual budget process.
What programs, services, and infrastructure investments would you prioritize? How would you balance the diverse needs, wants, and expectations of your community? The Town has launched new digital engagement tools to make it even easier for residents to share their feedback and help inform the budget.
Also new this year, the Town will move to a multi-year Budget, better positioning the municipality to continue to implement the action items of the Whitby Community Strategic Plan and focus on four main goals:
- Service delivery enhancements and additions as supported by the Community Strategic Plan
- Support for existing programs and services
- Operating funding to support new capital assets
- Continued increased investment in infrastructure renewal
This new approach will help the Town plan investments to meet its service delivery requirements as Whitby continues to grow – so community feedback matters more than ever.
Share Your Budget Priorities
This year, residents can help inform the Town’s budget through two new tools and phases of engagement:
- NOW OPEN: Phase Two - Prioritize (through to July 19) – residents can take part in participatory budgeting through a new and interactive tool that invites participants to rank/prioritize possible capital projects for inclusion in the budget
- NOW COMPLETE: Phase One - Simulate (May 23 to June 13) – residents can use a new and interactive simulator that shows the financial impacts of participants choices in real time as they increase, decrease, or keep funding the same for key municipal service areas
Stay informed on upcoming budget engagement opportunities. Subscribe to receive email updates (submit your email in the STAY INFORMED box).
How the Budget Process Works
Each year, the Town undergoes a robust process to create an annual budget that delivers the services and programs residents and businesses rely on each day.
Check out the below videos to learn more about how your tax dollars are spent and how municipal budget decisions are made:
- How Whitby's Municipal Budget Works - learn more about how a municipal budget is put together, including the Town's operating and capital budgets
- Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) 101 - learn more about how your property tax is calculated
For more information on how Whitby uses Development Charges (DCs) to help manage the cost of growth, visit the Development Charge Background Study page on Connect Whitby.
Out of all the taxes you pay the government in a year, municipal taxes make up only 9% of the total amount. Of that 9%, the Town receives 3% from overall taxes to operate and plan for services and infrastructure that you use every day.
To help manage these year-over-year costs, expenses in the municipal budget are broken down into two categories: operating and capital budget.
Operating Budget:
This accounts for the cost of operating day-to-day services in the Town including:
- Fire and Emergency services
- Town Facilities (e.g. Iroquois Park Sports Centre, Whitby Public Library, Port Whitby Marina, Brooklin Community Centre and Library and Town Hall).
- Recreation programs
- Road maintenance
- Waste Collection
- Debt payments and transfers to reserves
Capital Budget:
The capital budget consists of larger investments that help us prepare for our community’s future growth. Examples of capital expenses may include:
- Infrastructure development, building and construction projects (e.g. building new roads, sidewalks multi-use paths, bike lanes and bridges)
- Park and greenspace improvements
- Fleet expansion and maintenance (e.g. purchasing new fire trucks and snow plows)
Have a question about the Town’s budget? Email budget@whitby.ca.
