Every year, the City of Burlington decides how to spend close to half a billion dollars, and every property owner feels the result on their tax bill. But where does the money actually come from, who gets it, and why did your taxes go up? This guide explains how Burlington's budget works using the City's approved 2026 budget: the numbers, the process, and what it all means for residents. With Burlington voting on October 26, the Council elected next week will begin shaping the next budget, so it is a good moment to understand how the process works.
This article explains the budget and does not take a position on any candidate or decision.
Burlington's 2026 Budget at a Glance
Total budget: $492.9 million, made up of a $386.0 million operating budget and a $106.9 million capital budget
Where the money comes from: property taxes account for 72% of revenues
City budget increase: 5.81%
Overall property tax increase (City, Region, and school boards combined): 4.50%, or $43.71 per $100,000 of assessed value
The City's share of that overall increase: 2.98%
City assets: $7.1 billion in infrastructure, from roads and bridges to community centres
Operating Budget vs. Capital Budget: What's the Difference?
The Operating Budget
The operating budget pays for the day-to-day cost of running the city: staff, fuel, utilities, programs, and maintenance. Municipalities in Ontario are required by provincial law to balance their budgets, so revenues must match expenditures each year. The City's 2026 net tax levy, the amount that property taxes must cover after fees and other revenues, is about $280.8 million. Staffing is the largest cost: human resources account for about 49.8% of the gross operating budget.
The Capital Budget
The capital budget pays for building and renewing physical assets such as roads, parks, buildings, and stormwater systems. For 2026, the City has $106.9 million in capital projects planned, including:
$12.2 million for investments in city parks
$12.2 million for the repair and renewal of city facilities
$10.9 million to renew Walkers Line between Lakeshore Road and Dundas Street
$8.4 million to renew Fairview Street between Walkers Line and Appleby Line
$8.0 million for stormwater management projects
$5.7 million to renew Upper Middle Road
$5.0 million to renew Snake Road
$4.0 million for the Spruce Avenue and Goodram Drive area
The capital budget is paid for from several sources, including $53.9 million from property taxes in the operating budget, $17.8 million from reserve funds, $15.6 million from development charges, $10.4 million in debt, and $7.9 million in gas taxes.
Where Your Property Tax Bill Goes
Your property tax bill has three parts, and the City of Burlington collects all of them. Each organization sets its own budget:
Part of your bill | Share of 2026 bill | Share of 2025 bill | Taxes per $100,000 of assessed value, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
City of Burlington | 52.02% | 51.37% | $528.11 |
Halton Region | 32.91% | 32.88% | $334.18 |
School boards (education) | 15.07% | 15.75% | $153.00 |
Total | 100% | 100% | $1,015.29 |
To see what that means for a home, multiply by the assessed value. For example, a home assessed at $700,000 would pay about $3,697 to the City and about $7,107 in total before any credits or rebates. This is an illustration, so check your own bill for your actual figures.
What Each Part Pays For
Burlington services (52%): fire and protection services, recreation and community facilities and programs, roads, parks and forestry maintenance, Burlington Transit, Burlington Public Library, leaf collection, winter maintenance, civic administration, stormwater pond maintenance, growth management planning, and streetlighting.
Halton Region services (33%): waste pickup, police and paramedic services, regional roads, social services, and public health.
Education (15%): school boards. The education portion is based on provincial funding requirements.
How much you pay depends on your property's assessed value, set by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), and the tax rate for your property class. Some City services are charged differently in urban and rural areas: for the 2026 budget, taxes on an urban household with $100,000 of assessed value were $528.11 for the City portion, compared with $461.57 for a rural household.
Why Are There Different Numbers for the Increase?
You may have seen several figures for the 2026 increase. They are all correct, and they measure different things:
5.81% is the increase in the City's own budget, or the City's line on your tax bill.
2.98% is how much that City increase adds to your total tax bill. Because the City's portion is about half of the bill, a 5.81% rise in the City's line adds about 3 percentage points to the total.
1.51% is the Halton Region's contribution to the overall increase (a 4.60% increase in the Region's budget).
0% is the education portion, which did not change.
4.50% is the overall increase, adding up to $43.71 per $100,000 of assessed value.
In dollars, per $100,000 of assessed value, the City's portion rose by $29.00, the Region's by $14.71, and education by nothing.
Where the City's Share of Your Taxes Goes
The City's budget shows how each $100,000 of assessed value funds City operations, based on the City's own tax breakdown:
Service area | Per $100,000 of assessed value |
|---|---|
Funding for the capital program | $135.50 |
Fire | $79.01 |
Roads, parks, and forestry | $63.17 |
Transit | $50.00 |
Recreation, community, and culture | $41.99 |
Local boards (library, art gallery, museums, BPAC, economic development and tourism) | $33.42 |
Burlington Digital Services | $28.27 |
Engineering services | $17.75 |
Transportation services | $17.05 |
The full breakdown continues through administration, finance, human resources, by-law compliance, planning, the Mayor and Council, legal and court services, and customer service. Each of those is a smaller share.
By division, the largest net operating budgets are Community Services at $92.9 million (which includes fire, transit, and recreation), corporate expenditures at $85.2 million (which includes funding for the capital program), and Public Works at $52.6 million.
What Is Driving the 2026 Budget Increase?
The City breaks the 5.81% budget increase into several drivers:
Base budget, including inflation: 2.65%
Infrastructure renewal levy: 2.14%
Operating costs of new infrastructure (such as the New Appleby library branch, the Alton West neighbourhood, and transit expansion): 0.56%
Operational and financial sustainability: 0.04%
Multi-Year Community Investment Plan: 0.09%
Key investments in livability, sustainability, and transparency: 0.33%
The Infrastructure Challenge
A big part of the story is aging infrastructure. The City's $7.1 billion in assets have an average age of 33 years and are in Good condition but trending to Fair. The City says it needs to invest $1.22 billion over the next 10 years to renew them but is currently planning $868 million, leaving a gap of about $350 million. A dedicated infrastructure levy is the City's response to part of that gap. The budget also notes that Burlington's population is expected to grow by more than 40% over the next 25 years.
How the Budget Gets Made
The budget follows a public process each year. For the 2026 budget, it looked like this:
July: Council receives a financial forecast, and endorses a Mayoral Direction asking staff to prepare a budget in the order of a 4.5% overall tax increase, with the City's share under 3%.
August to November: public engagement, including a survey, a Food for Feedback event, town halls in each ward, and a telephone town hall.
October: the proposed budget is posted online.
November: the budget is presented to Council, each City division presents to the Budget Committee, and the committee reviews the budget and any amendments from councillors.
December: a special Council meeting finalizes the budget.
Residents can speak at the committee and Council meetings as delegations. Under the strong mayor rules that apply in Burlington, Council considers and votes on amendments to the proposed budget. In 2026, Council's approved amendments included increasing the infrastructure renewal levy and stormwater funding by $390,000 each, lowering contributions to two reserve funds by $50,000 each, deferring $300,000 in debt charges for the Robert Bateman Community Centre, and adding programming for Indigenous People's Day, Orange Shirt Day, and National Truth and Reconciliation Day.
A Check on the City's Financial Health
The City tracks several indicators of its finances. According to its budget:
Debt: debt charges are about 10.3% of net revenue (2024), under the Council-approved limit of 12.5%.
Reserves: stabilization reserve funds are below their target of 10% to 15% of own-source revenues, at about 5.6% to 6.5%, and capital reserve funds are well below a target of about $143 million, at roughly $34 million in 2024. The City's financial assessment flags both as areas of caution.
Comparison with other municipalities: the City reports that Burlington's property taxes as a share of household income are below the average of its group of comparator municipalities, based on a 2025 study.
Programs to Help With Costs
The City and Region offer several programs to help residents with property taxes and costs:
Property tax rebate for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities, of up to $575
Property tax deferral for older adults, an interest-free regional program
A rebate for designated heritage properties
Pre-authorized tax payment plans
Recreation fee assistance
Free transit for children and seniors, and for youth on weekdays after 6 p.m. and on weekends
Grants for residential plumbing permits to prevent basement flooding
An interest-free home energy retrofit loan program
An Additional Residential Units incentive program
Details and eligibility are on the City's property tax page.
Questions to Ask About Any Budget
Whether you are happy with the budget or not, these questions help you engage with it:
How much of the increase is for services you use today, and how much is for long-term infrastructure?
What would be cut, or delayed, if the increase were smaller?
How does the City plan to close the infrastructure funding gap over time?
How are growth and new homes expected to change revenue and costs?
What do the reserves and debt levels mean for future years?
The Council that takes office after the October 26 election will oversee the 2027 budget process.
Burlington Budget FAQ
How Much Is Burlington's 2026 Budget?
The 2026 budget totals $492.9 million, including a $386.0 million operating budget and a $106.9 million capital budget.
How Much Did Property Taxes Go Up in Burlington in 2026?
The overall increase was 4.50%, or $43.71 per $100,000 of assessed value, made up of increases for the City, Halton Region, and school boards. The City's own budget rose 5.81%.
What Percentage of My Tax Bill Goes to the City?
About 52% of the 2026 tax bill goes to the City of Burlington, about 33% to Halton Region, and about 15% to school boards.
Who Approves the City Budget?
City Council approves the budget at a special meeting in December, after public engagement and committee review.
What Is the Infrastructure Levy?
It is a dedicated portion of the budget increase, about 2.14% in 2026, set aside to renew aging infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and community centres.
How Can I Have a Say in the Budget?
You can take part in the City's budget survey and town halls, read the proposed budget online, and register to speak at committee and Council meetings.
The Bigger Picture
A budget is a statement of priorities, written in dollars. It shows what a city chooses to protect, what it chooses to build, and what it is willing to ask of its residents. Burlington's budget process is designed to be open, with the numbers published, meetings held in public, and residents invited to speak, but it only works when people take part. If you have ever wondered why your tax bill changed, the answers are in plain sight. For more on why local decisions matter, read our look at why the election is closer to your daily life than you think.
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