City passes 2024 budget

As expected, City of Ottawa council passed its 2024 municipal budget in December with a tax increase of 2.5 per cent.
The municipal budget governs spending on every aspect of city life–emergency services, roads, clean water, parks and recreation, public health programs, garbage and recycling programs, libraries and public transit, as well as the maintenance of properties and utilities related to those services.
Local impacts
The 2024 budget includes spending that will affect the Manor Park and surrounding communities in a number of ways. According to staff at the office of Rideau-Rockcliffe Rawlson King, some of those include:
- $15,000 to the Manor Park Community Council for the establishment of a cross-country ski trailhead for Ski Heritage East at Manor Park’s new community space located at 1805 Gaspé Ave., the former “Encounters With Canada” campus
- $309,000 for renewal of the Brittany Water Pumping Station
- $1.8 million to design the Jeffrey Ave-Arundel Ave.-Farnham Cres. integrated road, water and sewer project, which is part of a $12.4-million investment.
- $440,000 to replace or rehabilitate parks, recreation and cultural facilities, including improvements to Hemlock Park and the Lindenlea Community Centre
Accessible swing
The improvements to Hemlock Park are partly the result of community feedback and regular “life cycle planning”. This includes replacing the junior play equipment and swings.
Current plans to update the play equipment include replacing existing junior equipment with two or three new pieces of equipment, a new set of swings that includes two belt swings, two junior bucket swings and an accessible swing, as well as accessible benches and relocating the ATV spring toy.
The city will build parks using “engineered wood fiber” surfaces to meet accessibility requirements, meaning the surfaces would be more even and denser to cushion impact and improve access for people with disabilities. Existing senior play structure, and sand, will remain.
More housing, no fare freeze
An attempt by some councillors, including Coun. King, to freeze public transit fares failed while overall spending on affordable housing was increased to about $30 million (double what municipal staff had proposed in the draft budget).
Those councillors who argued in favour of a freeze in fares felt the move was a necessary step to ensure people use transit given rising inflation and costs. Urban councillors also made the point that continuing infill development will lead to more traffic and make commuting “virtually impossible.”
Councillors who voted against the freeze argued that reliability of schedules and the system overall were more important than fare increases, which would be relatively modest from a rider perspective (about 10 cents for an adult fare and over $3 for a monthly pass) yet bring much-needed revenue to OC Transpo.
Antiracism
As council liaison for the Antiracism and Ethnocultural Relations Initiatives, Coun. King also secured $120,000 in the budget for expanding black-led community initiatives as party of the city’s anti-racism strategy commitments and creating new ones across the city.
Hate crimes increased 22.5 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, according to the Ottawa Police Service.
According to Coun. King’s office, 71 hate crimes were reported city-wide from October 7 to December 2. This represents a 238-per-cent increase compared to the same two-month period in 2022. More than 50 incidents targeted the Jewish and Muslim communities, 41 of which were deemed criminal.
Consequently, council passed a motion to direct city staff to “explore opportunities” to use educational initiatives to address hate crimes.
In a statement to council during budget approval December 6, Coun. King said education and community awareness initiatives “must play a crucial role” in fighting hatred.
“Knowledge is a powerful tool that can dispel ignorance, challenge stereotypes and promote understanding,” he said. “It is imperative that we take a stand against hatred and discrimination to foster an environment where everyone feels safe, valued and respected.”
Read Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King’s summary and view on the 2024 city budget.
