New council committee will work to whittle down property tax increases, says mayor

London's mayor announced the establishment of a new council committee tasked with finding ways to make sure the city spends less — and makes more — money, Monday.

The goal is to lower incoming property tax increases that as it stands could amount to around 30 per cent by 2027, before they show up on Londoners's tax bills.

"Councillors have ideas and so does the public, but what we lack is a a meaningful mechanism to explore them, get the proper feedback and make a recommendation," said Mayor Josh Morgan of the plan.

Morgan's announcement comes in the wake of a lengthy and sometimes contentious municipal budget process. The final multi-year budget includes a projected property tax increase of 8.8 per cent in 2024, 8.6 per cent in 2025, 5.7 per cent in 2026 and 6.5 per cent in 2027.

The largest piece of Morgan's push to whittle down those large tax increases, is through the establishment of the Strategic Opportunities Review Working Group (SORWG), which will be comprised of seven councillors, and chaired by the city's budget chair, Coun. Elizabeth Peloza.

SORWG will report to the Strategic Planning and Priorities Committee, which includes all of council, and its annual objectives will be approved by a council vote. According to Morgan, that will allow for discussion and objectives for the working group to be focused and clear.

"[The working group] has the authority to do a strategic review of programs and services that are provided and funded by the City of London and identify services that we may want to divest from or reduce overtime," said Morgan.

Part of those service reviews could include considering whether sharing services like IT and human resources between the city and its boards and commissions can save money. They could also include cutting or adjusting services that may not "align with modern day community needs," the mayor said.

The working group will also be able to work with the city's boards and commissions to review their services and look for savings, Morgan said.

"It also has the authority to investigate places where we could generate more revenue rather than reduce services and make cuts," Morgan said, adding that the ability to engage in public participation will be part of the working group's toolkit as well.

SORWG is also not meant to duplicate work already done through the city's existing service review process, the mayor said.

In fact, alongside the establishment of the committee, Morgan also announced his plans to direct the city's manager to conduct an improvement-minded examination of the process, which, according to Morgan has identified a total upward of $40 million in savings over the next four years.

"There will be some difficult decisions, but they'll have to be thoughtful and respectful of both the needs of Londoners for critical services to be provided," Morgan said. "But also as respectful as possible with the money and the tax dollars that it takes to provide those services."