Ottawa mayoral candidates offer differing tax plans ahead of Monday's vote
The four leading candidates have proposed tax freezes, caps and a levy to address city budget pressures.
OTTAWA · The four leading candidates for mayor of Ottawa have laid out differing plans for property taxes and city spending, with the winner set to table a new budget after Monday's election. The candidates are grappling with how to fund their promises amid rising costs, salaries and a persistent deficit at OC Transpo. The city's main revenue source, property taxes, does not automatically keep up with inflation, putting pressure on the next mayor's fiscal plan. None of the candidates have provided fully detailed costings for their platforms.
Neil Saravanamuttoo has not provided a specific number for tax increases, saying his plan hinges on the cost of fixing aging infrastructure and the savings he can find at city hall. He believes substantial savings are possible. "If I were to take a ballpark guess, I would believe that we could easily find 10 to 15 per cent of savings within the current city budget, just from bloat that has built up over the years," he said at his final campaign media event on Friday. That would exceed half a billion dollars, at least double the $250 million target set by incumbent Mark Sutcliffe.
Saravanamuttoo said his platform does not depend on hitting that specific savings number. He promised a line-by-line review of city spending, "zero-based budgeting" to force departments to justify their entire budgets annually, and more transparency to let residents track down waste. He said he would stop expensive deals like the Lansdowne 2.0 project, the planned Tewin suburb and the purchase of a private landfill site, arguing they benefit private developers more than taxpayers. While he has put price tags on some promises, like a buck-a-ride transit plan, he has no detailed costing for his platform overall.
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Alex Lawson is the only leading candidate to set a tax ceiling for all four years of a mandate, promising a tax freeze in the first year followed by increases of one, two and two per cent. Like Sutcliffe, he said he would achieve this by finding savings, stating Ottawa has a "leaky bucket problem" in areas from procurement to overtime. Lawson has costed some promises, like $12.5 million to scrap the vacant unit tax and $8.4 million for a deeper tax discount for small businesses. However, his plan to scrap on-street paid parking would lose the city $9.8 million per year in revenue.
Lawson said the parking program barely covers its costs, so losses would be almost wholly offset by savings. City figures show the costs include winter and road maintenance that would continue, plus staff and park-and-ride facility costs, with savings from payment machines and technology only amounting to $2.6 million. Asked about the apparent hole in his fiscal plan, Lawson said, "These aren't numbers we pulled out of thin air." He added that if there is a loss, he is willing to accept it to help businesses suffering under paid parking. Many of his most expensive promises, like a new ring road, rely on federal or provincial funding.
Incumbent Mark Sutcliffe is promising to hold property tax hikes to at most 2.5 per cent in the first two budgets of a new mandate. He says he would do this in part by finding $250 million in savings through a spending review led by independent experts, a peer review of infrastructure spending and using AI for more efficient services. Sutcliffe says it is not realistic to make promises for 2029 and 2030. He made a similar commitment in the 2022 election and held taxes to 2.5 per cent for two years, but they rose by close to four per cent both this year and last.
Sutcliffe's $10-billion, 10-year infrastructure plan could require more debt, potentially leading to higher taxes later to cover debt servicing costs. His transit promises would also cost tens of millions per year, though he says provincial funding to upload the LRT will free up savings to cover costs. While he has provided cost estimates for some items, like $8 million to $17 million for a transit fare cut, he has not given a detailed costing for his platform as a whole. His team says his savings and tax revenues are enough to pay for all his promises.
With files from CBC News