Budget 2024-2027: Investing in Today. Empowering Tomorrow.

Chatham-Kent's Municipal budget is the blueprint for how your tax dollars will be spent.

It shows how the Municipality will balance revenue with expenditures to fund services it effectively and efficiently provides to the residents of Chatham-Kent.

This year the Municipality is developing it's first multi-year budget, covering 2024 to 2027, to provide strategic financial planning over the term of Council.

Linking Councils strategic priorities to the departmental business plans and subsequently the adoption of a 4-year budget creates an integrated, long-term approach aligning Council’s strategic priorities to funding plans for implementation. The implementation of multi-year budgets is not a one-time exercise, but one that must reviewed and adopted annually through the annual budget updates. Switching to a multi-year budget provides the residents of Chatham-Kent with greater certainty of their future taxes along with the implementation timelines of Councils strategic plan. For details on Chatham-Kent's implementation of a multi-year budget please see the Multi-Year Budget presentation and the Report to Council in the Additional Information section on the right.

This spring, we have released the first phase of budget engagement through an initial survey, followed by a second survey later in the summer.

The second phase is the budget presentation to Council on November 15th (6pm) which will also be aired live on YourTV, shared on Facebook and YouTube. The draft budget will be available at that time on the Municipality of Chatham-Kent website. We’ll also be hosting live Q&A Community Open House sessions on Facebook November 22nd (12pm) and 23rd (7pm).

The third phase will involve Council deliberations on the budget, which will be aired live on YourTV, as well as shared on Facebook and YouTube, starting November 28th (6pm), followed by meetings on the 29th and 30th. If needed, further contingency meetings are scheduled for December 5th and 6th, also at 6pm.

Use the interactive section below to submit your budget questions and share your ideas regarding the Municipal Budget 2024-2027.

Chatham-Kent's Municipal budget is the blueprint for how your tax dollars will be spent.

It shows how the Municipality will balance revenue with expenditures to fund services it effectively and efficiently provides to the residents of Chatham-Kent.

This year the Municipality is developing it's first multi-year budget, covering 2024 to 2027, to provide strategic financial planning over the term of Council.

This spring, we have released the first phase of budget engagement through an initial survey, followed by a second survey later in the summer.

Use the interactive section below to submit your budget questions and share your ideas regarding the Municipal Budget 2024-2027.

Budget Question Submission

Do you have a question about the 2024-2027 multi-year budget or budget process? Enter your question below and someone from the budget team will answer.

Does resident feedback get incorporated into the budget in a meaningful way? There have been several years where community input is sought, but then the results are never made public. Without seeing the aggregated results of the survey, it is difficult to understand how this feedback has been incorporated, if at all. Does the Municipality share this aggregated data anywhere?

CKResident2023 asked 11 months ago

Thank you for your question. This year two surveys were performed seeking resident feedback on the budget. The first helped identify services residents deemed important and areas where further investments might be made, and this was considered by administration as the proposed budget was developed. The second survey sought input on potential changes that may be included in the multi-year budget and is provided to Council to assist with their decision making.
The results of both surveys are available for review on the Chatham-Kent municipal budget webpage.
Given the changes in circumstances that can happen in the span of a year, how would a multi-year budget address that and still provide certainty regarding taxes, assuming that a change in circumstances would result in a change to the budget when it is reviewed annually.

CKResident2023 asked 11 months ago
Thank you for your question. As part of the multi-year budget process, the Municipal Act requires municipalities to readopt the budget each year through an annual update. At this time changes can be made to the budget, however any new item should meet one of the three criteria outlined below in order to be included.
- New or Changed Regulation – A new or changed legislation or regulation with a financial impact to the municipality.
- New Council Direction – A new Council direction that has transpired after the approval of the multi-year budget.
- Cost or Revenue Driver – A corporate or service area budget adjustment as a result of changes in economic conditions.
In the event a change in the subsequent budget years is necessary, efforts will be made to identify other available funding sources first. If there are no available funding sources, there is the potential to use the Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve. A percentage of the budget sets aside funds that go into a Tax Rate Stabilization reserve, with the intent that if unpredicted budget items are needed in years 2 to 4 of the budget, it can be utilized to help offset a tax impact. If sufficient funding isn’t available, it would be presented as a budget amendment that would require tax funding and an increase to the approved budget. Likewise, if unexpected funding is received, it can be used to offset budget amendments or decrease the approved budget.
For this and answers to other frequently asked questions, please see the additional information on the Chatham-Kent municipal budget webpage.
I would like to see the results of this survey. Could you please let me know where to find this information. . Thank you

Janetdawn asked 6 months ago

Thank you for your question. The results from both of the budget surveys can be found on the Our Municipal Budgets page of the Chatham-Kent website, under Additional Information.