Londoners with questions, or those who just want to learn more about the city's latest multi-year budget, will be given several opportunities this month to hear from city staff.
An open house about the draft 2024-2027 budget is being hosted Wednesday between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on the second floor of London City Hall in committee room 1. While there will be no formal presentation, the city's budget team will be on hand providing a review and answering any questions related to the draft fiscal document. The open house is being run as a drop-in session so pre-registration to attend is not required, the city said.
Six other pop-up information sessions are also planned throughout the city from January 13 to 25. They are as follows:
January 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the South London Community Centre at 1119 Jalna Blvd.
January 16 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the East Lion’s Community Centre at 1731 Churchill Ave.
January 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre at 1045 Wonderland Road North
January 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kiwanis Seniors Centre at 78 Riverside Drive
January 22 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Stoney Creek Community Centre at 920 Sunningdale Road East
January 25 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the StarTech.com (formerly Bostwick) Community Centre at 501 Southdale Road West
Anyone who cannot attend any of the public information sessions or the open house, but wants to learn more or provide feedback about the multi-year budget can do so online at getinvolved.london.ca/budget. input is being accepted until 9 a.m. on January 29.
"Feedback from Londoners is critical to support this process. Let City Council know what you think – what you support or what you think the budget priorities should be," the city said in a statement.
Currently, taxpayers in London are looking at a 5.4 per cent increase in 2024. That would be just to maintain existing services in the city. If all funding requests from city agencies, boards, and commissions are approved, the tax levy would jump to 13 per cent. The largest ask comes from the London Police Service, which has submitted a business case to modernize the force and hire 189 new police employees. The police service is seeking a record $672-million over four years.
The city's budget committee will hold deliberations on the draft multi-year budget next month. Public participation meetings will be held at city hall at 4 p.m. on January 29 and 4 p.m. on February 27. Final approval of the document is expected to be granted by council on March 5.
