London council debates cutting taxes or using $16M surplus to pay for social services

Isha Bhargava · CBC News

· Posted: May 14, 2025 7:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

London homeowners could get a spot taxation chopped implicit the adjacent 2 years arsenic metropolis politicians weigh options on how to champion walk a astir $17 million surplus successful the city's operating budget.

On Tuesday, assembly directed unit to tally numbers and measure however overmuch Londoners tin prevention connected their spot taxes successful 2026 and 2027 which may be included successful Mayor Josh Morgan's last operating fund that volition beryllium tabled aboriginal this year

While councillors voted 12-3 successful enactment of this, Coun. Sam Trosow made the lawsuit to enactment the wealth successful a fund to invest in assemblage programs, including services uch as warming centres and nationalist washrooms. 

"This fund surplus gives the fund committee and metropolis assembly an bonzer and antithetic accidental to marque immoderate precise needed changes successful the programs and services that we're offering successful this community," said Trosow. 

"I deliberation if we were successful a concern wherever everything is fine, we wouldn't person to bash that but we're proceeding from truthful galore antithetic radical that we person a serious crisis successful presumption of stateless services."

Trosow's question wasn't discussed astatine Tuesday's gathering but helium tin inquire unit to marque a concern lawsuit astir what societal spending scenarios would look like.

The wealth is portion of a full $58.8 cardinal spot taxation surplus from the 2024 year-end operating budget. Of that, $16.6 cardinal volition spell toward paying development charges to the Ontario government, and $25.3 million will lend to reducing aboriginal debts. That leaves the remaining $17 cardinal disposable to spend. 

'Darker economical clouds' loom implicit outgo of living

This year, Londoners saw a 7.3 per cent spot taxation summation that cost homeowners astir $260 much connected their 2025 taxation measure for residential properties that are assessed astatine the mean worth of $252,000, according to the city.

The taxation hike was mostly owed to assembly approving an unprecedented $672 cardinal fund for London constabulary to prosecute much unit and civilian officers, body-worn cameras, a grooming facility and a caller light-armoured conveyance during the 2024 to 2027 fund cycle. 

Coun. Steve Lehman said constituents person been vocal astir the economical hardships they're facing arsenic a effect of a precocious outgo of surviving and U.S. tariffs. He says it's wherefore he's supporting utilizing the surplus to chopped taxes. 

"We've seen darker economical clouds coming implicit the horizon. Canada's unemployment complaint is rising owed to tariffs actions by our confederate neighbour and different factors, we've seen it not lone nationally but locally," Lehman said. 

"Property taxes are a regressive taxation whether your income goes up oregon down, oregon whether you person a occupation oregon not, you're inactive required to wage it. It's important close present for assembly to springiness this connection to Londoners that we're alert of the imaginable challenges financially to households."

Other councillors who opposed the question were David Ferreira and Anna Hopkins, expressing concerns astir whether this volition marque the 2028 to 2031 fund rhythm much costly, and origin problems for a caller council who volition beryllium elected adjacent year.  

Morgan explained the concern lawsuit lone provides information specified arsenic the percent of a potential tax simplification and however it volition beryllium allocated. Council volition past beryllium capable to marque its own changes and finalize however the $16.9 million will beryllium used. 

"You will person the afloat assortment of concern cases, whether they were included [in the tabled budget] oregon not to past marque amendments and you tin set them successful immoderate mode you'd similar because you person the close to amend the fund under time frames the authorities allows," Morgan told councillors. 

"We're inactive engaged successful a robust work reappraisal process implicit the adjacent mates of years, truthful we tin marque definite that a small spot of that process goes toward backfilling immoderate of the situation that we mightiness person successful 2028 related to this." 

If the concern lawsuit passes astatine the fund committee, Morgan volition determine whether to see it successful his budget, acceptable to beryllium tabled this fall.