First look at NOTL capital budget shows $7 million increase over last year

Niagara-on-the-Lake council members had their first discussion about the 2025 budget on Tuesday night, going over a 66-item, $17-million capital spending plan to kick off the process.  

Town treasurer Kyle Freeborn presented the draft capital budget, which is $7 million more than last year's. About $3 million is expected to be taken from reserves to fund it.  

The operating budget is expected to be brought forward next month and reports with recommendations could be before councillors as early as Dec. 10, Freeborn said in his presentation.  

One focal point of Thursday’s deliberations was an infrastructure gap being felt by the municipality. According to Freeborn’s presentation, the town has invested only 53 per cent of what it should have on roads, bridges and culverts, water and wastewater projects, and facilities.

There is a capital backlog of more than $34 million, a problem not unique to NOTL – it’s one being felt by local governments everywhere, Freeborn told the committee. It would take the town 40 years with an additional $150,000 each year to address this problem, he estimated, adding “something is better than nothing.”  

But this is a “major issue” faced by towns and cities across the country, he said.

Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa asked Freeborn what could be currently considered the town’s greatest risk related to infrastructure — what keeps him up at night.  

It’s the “slow decline” of assets and their condition over time, Freeborn said, with roads in particular needing attention quickly. “We are a tourism town and I think we want to maintain that image.” 

Interim chief administrative officer Bruce Zvaniga said the town doesn’t have infrastructure facing “imminent failure,” but that the “reliability of our infrastructure is getting less and less.”  

Zalepa said he hopes the committee can take a “more aggressive” approach as it crunches numbers going forward with the 2025 budget process, and can find ways to close the gap, such as setting aside $800,000 annually for the next 10 years.  

Coun. Wendy Cheropita said the town needs to explore more ideas with shared services, working with other municipalities in the region. One example would be sharing the same chief executive officer between libraries, she suggested. “I think there’s opportunities we haven’t pursued yet,” said Cheropita.  

Public works manager Darren Wills said this is something the town is investigating. “This is a huge item on our agenda, and we’re looking at this in all areas,” said Wills.  

More than $2 million in debt will be used to fund a reconstruction of Mississagua Street, a project worth nearly $5 million, councillors were told. Freeborn said the town taking on debt isn't as negative as it may sound. “In our personal lives, debt is usually seen as a bad thing,” he said. “In government, it can allow us to spread the costs of a long-lived piece of infrastructure to all its users – even those 30 years from now,” he explained.  

In his presentation, Freeborn said there are remaining large projects for the town to undertake without a definitive funding strategy, such as a new administrative building that would cost $10 million and be built in 2028. The building is needed to handle “growing day-to-day operations.”  

Other big projects included in the budget are $4 million for culverts and a road reconstruction of Line 2, as well as a resurfacing of Queen’s Parade for $300,000.  

Various pieces of equipment for the fire department, as well as a $1.4-million pumper truck, are also in the 2025 capital budget.  

Other issues discussed Thursday included the timing of budget meetings, when Coun. Adriana Vizzari asked if it could be considered that they not be held in the evening. Councillors voted last year to change the discussions to evening hours, responded the lord mayor.  

The budget process will continue until at least the end of the year.