Budget Process Overview

Every year the Region of Waterloo undertakes a comprehensive process to set its operating and capital budgets for the current year and plans for the future. The budget process involves elected officials, the public and regional staff.

There are three budgets set by the Region of Waterloo:

Property Tax Supported Budget – This budget is funded by property taxes levied against homes and businesses in the Region of Waterloo.

User Rate Budgets – These budgets are supported by fees charged to the user of the service. Examples of these services are Water Services, Waste Water Treatment and Solid Waste Operations.

Capital Budget – The Capital budget includes expenditures for assets that will have a useful life greater than one year. Examples include the acquisition of vehicles, construction of roads and building of Regional Facilities. The capital budget is funded by a variety of sources including reserves (savings), development charges, issuance of debt and grants from other levels of government. In addition to the current year, a capital forecast for the next nine years and in come cases up to nineteen years, is prepared

The Region is required by the Municipal Act to set a budget every year. It is also required to adopt a balanced budget – that is the Region can not budget for a surplus or deficit.

For Regional staff, the budget process is lead by the Finance Department and involves all areas of the Region. The budget process begins in the summer with staff determining the financial resources needed to maintain the current level of service that has been approved by Regional Council. This is known as the Base Budget.

In addition to the base budget, Regional staff identifies areas where program expansion should take place or new programs implemented to meet the needs of the Region’s citizens. These proposals, called Budget Issues, are presented to Regional Council for consideration. Budget issues are prepared for the current year and the next three years.

In a non- election year, staff presents the budget to Regional Council in October. After a municipal election, the budget is presented in December. Once the budget has been presented, Regional Council will review the base budget and budget issues. Where required, Councillors will request further information from staff.

Regional Council holds two public input sessions during the budget process to allow members of the community to express their opinions on the budget under consideration. These meetings are advertised in local newspapers as well as on the Region’s web site (www.region.waterloo.on.ca ).

On the final budget day, normally in January of each year (March after a municipal election), Regional Council reviews the budget presented by Regional staff, any supporting documentation they have requested and input provided by the public. Council will make decisions on program expansions and changes to the proposed budgets, balancing the needs of the community with the impact on property taxes or user rates. At the conclusion of the budget process, Regional Council will approve its Operating and Capital budgets for the current fiscal year.

Once Council has passed its budget, Regional staff will implement any changes to service levels or new programs that have been approved. Expenditures are controlled against the budget by formal financial, purchasing, and human resource polices and systems. Regional Council is updated on the status of its budget throughout the year through reports to the Administration and Finance Committee.