Sebastian Johnston-Lindsay
@sebastianj-l.bsky.social
Peterborough Examiner Reporter
Email tips: sjohnstonlindsay@metroland.com
Email tips: sjohnstonlindsay@metroland.com
Here is my story from today as meetings on the 2026 Peterborough City Budget wrap up.
Council votes to increase arts grant funding, sends police budget back; tax rate increase now sits at 6.56 per cent
Tax hike in draft budget whittled down to less than 7 per cent
www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Here is my story from today as meetings on the 2026 Peterborough City Budget wrap up.
The saga continues...
@alexbierk.bsky.social asking now whether the pickleball courts in Bonnerworth Park will be closed Nov-May. Commissioner McAulay says yes - but there's a plan to put an outdoor neighbourhood skating rink there in fall 2026 (not this winter, because the sod in the park needs to get established).
November 18, 2025 at 6:26 PM
The saga continues...
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There can't be forever chemicals in Little Lake from GE's industrial runoff if there's no more Little Lake because we've used it to cool a datacentre!
Mayor Jeff Leal briefly raised the prospect of Peterborough being an attractive spot for an AI data centre to be built due to its proximity to so much available water in the area.
November 18, 2025 at 5:00 PM
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That's a wrap on my time here covering the city budget meetings for this year. Barring some unforeseen circumstances the talks will end today and the budget should be approved on Dec. 8. @joellekovach.bsky.social has you covered this afternoon! Thanks for following along with me here. Off to write!
November 18, 2025 at 5:00 PM
That's a wrap on my time here covering the city budget meetings for this year. Barring some unforeseen circumstances the talks will end today and the budget should be approved on Dec. 8. @joellekovach.bsky.social has you covered this afternoon! Thanks for following along with me here. Off to write!
Coun. Crowley is asking what the impact would be if the city decided to defund the Community Project and Community Investment grants. Commissioner Laidman says there would be an impact to about 23 organizations in the community. Crowley thanks him. No motion. No cuts here...yet.
November 18, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Coun. Crowley is asking what the impact would be if the city decided to defund the Community Project and Community Investment grants. Commissioner Laidman says there would be an impact to about 23 organizations in the community. Crowley thanks him. No motion. No cuts here...yet.
Coun. Bierk is now speaking to the economic impact of the arts in the community, and especially the grants to individual artist grants. "That program delivers enormous value for very little cost," he said. He has a motion supporting a staff recommendation and to to retore $25k to the grant program.
November 18, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Coun. Bierk is now speaking to the economic impact of the arts in the community, and especially the grants to individual artist grants. "That program delivers enormous value for very little cost," he said. He has a motion supporting a staff recommendation and to to retore $25k to the grant program.
Mayor Jeff Leal now says he will be supporting the motion on charging for parking at the zoo. The zoo is not free to operate, he says. The vote is carried 6-5.
November 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Mayor Jeff Leal now says he will be supporting the motion on charging for parking at the zoo. The zoo is not free to operate, he says. The vote is carried 6-5.
Coun. Gary Baldwin is now putting forward a motion to explore "parking and other revenue generating opportunities at the Riverview Park and Zoo" as part of the 2027 budget. Suggests maybe parking would target out of town visitors to the institution.
November 18, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Coun. Gary Baldwin is now putting forward a motion to explore "parking and other revenue generating opportunities at the Riverview Park and Zoo" as part of the 2027 budget. Suggests maybe parking would target out of town visitors to the institution.
We're back from break now and Commissioner of Finance Richard Freymond is giving what councillors are calling the "State of the Union" address to councillors. Thus far, Freymond is recounting where we are thus far in budget talks.
November 18, 2025 at 4:01 PM
We're back from break now and Commissioner of Finance Richard Freymond is giving what councillors are calling the "State of the Union" address to councillors. Thus far, Freymond is recounting where we are thus far in budget talks.
Now Leal is asking airport manager, Kyle Bruce, whether there will be "big signs" for the airport following its official name change. "I mean REALLY big signs," he repeats as Bruce explains there are restrictions on the size of signs in Peterborough. Mercifully, we are on break now.
November 18, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Now Leal is asking airport manager, Kyle Bruce, whether there will be "big signs" for the airport following its official name change. "I mean REALLY big signs," he repeats as Bruce explains there are restrictions on the size of signs in Peterborough. Mercifully, we are on break now.
Mayor Jeff Leal briefly raised the prospect of Peterborough being an attractive spot for an AI data centre to be built due to its proximity to so much available water in the area.
November 18, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Mayor Jeff Leal briefly raised the prospect of Peterborough being an attractive spot for an AI data centre to be built due to its proximity to so much available water in the area.
Commissioners Freymond and Simanovskis are now discussing the approximately $1.09M in savings achieved through the decision to bring drinking water services in-house. The 2026 budget proposes a 3.5% increase in the water rate. Here's some background on the decision:
City of Peterborough to take over zoo operation and water utility
City councillors voted at a general committee meeting Monday to have the city take over provision of drinking water, as well as the operation of Riverview Park and Zoo, from the Peterborough Utilities Commission.
www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Commissioners Freymond and Simanovskis are now discussing the approximately $1.09M in savings achieved through the decision to bring drinking water services in-house. The 2026 budget proposes a 3.5% increase in the water rate. Here's some background on the decision:
Coun. Vassiliadis moves a motion, which passes unanimously, that the operation hours of the County/City landfill not be extended. This is in line with a recommendation in a staff report showing the annual cost of extending landfill service hours would be about $320,00. That report can be found here:
pub-peterborough.escribemeetings.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Coun. Vassiliadis moves a motion, which passes unanimously, that the operation hours of the County/City landfill not be extended. This is in line with a recommendation in a staff report showing the annual cost of extending landfill service hours would be about $320,00. That report can be found here:
We're on to evironmental services and waste management. Coun. Bierk is asking about concerns he's hearing from downtown businesses regarding the number of small recycling bins they need to put out for collection. Says they create congestion on the sidewalks and take up a lot of space for owners.
November 18, 2025 at 2:54 PM
We're on to evironmental services and waste management. Coun. Bierk is asking about concerns he's hearing from downtown businesses regarding the number of small recycling bins they need to put out for collection. Says they create congestion on the sidewalks and take up a lot of space for owners.
Lost in some of this discussion on transit and the operation's budget is the fact that baked into the 2026 budget is a $0.25 cent increase to the transit fare. This hasn't been raised as part of the discussion thus far.
November 18, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Lost in some of this discussion on transit and the operation's budget is the fact that baked into the 2026 budget is a $0.25 cent increase to the transit fare. This hasn't been raised as part of the discussion thus far.
Coun. Matt Crowley asks about the impact of reducing funding for new bus replacements. Simanovskis again advises againt this, noting it would mean the city falls further behind. Crowley makes it clear he's "just asking the questions" and that he wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't. No cuts.
November 18, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Coun. Matt Crowley asks about the impact of reducing funding for new bus replacements. Simanovskis again advises againt this, noting it would mean the city falls further behind. Crowley makes it clear he's "just asking the questions" and that he wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't. No cuts.
Coun. Alex Bierk says that he's concerned about the lack of designated funding for accessible bus shelters in the city. Commissioner Simanovskis responds that there is some work underway. Bierk follows up that he hopes Simanovskis can take into account delegations from residents on this issue.
November 18, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Coun. Alex Bierk says that he's concerned about the lack of designated funding for accessible bus shelters in the city. Commissioner Simanovskis responds that there is some work underway. Bierk follows up that he hopes Simanovskis can take into account delegations from residents on this issue.
On to transit now. Coun. Don Vassiliadis is asking about how the increased ridership for this year (up 19%) relates to revenue. Overall ridership, we hear, is down about 27% overall, despite this. The draft budget is proposing a 2.8% decrease to transit operating budget for 2026.
November 18, 2025 at 2:22 PM
On to transit now. Coun. Don Vassiliadis is asking about how the increased ridership for this year (up 19%) relates to revenue. Overall ridership, we hear, is down about 27% overall, despite this. The draft budget is proposing a 2.8% decrease to transit operating budget for 2026.
Coun. Kevin Duguay is now asking about a $3.48M tree planting program, which is currently partially funded through a $1.6M grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities with the city making up the rest. No attempted cuts here, either. Just questions about the program.
November 18, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Coun. Kevin Duguay is now asking about a $3.48M tree planting program, which is currently partially funded through a $1.6M grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities with the city making up the rest. No attempted cuts here, either. Just questions about the program.
Coun. Crowley is asking if it's possible to reduce spending on fleet replacement for public works. Commissioner of municipal operations, Ilmar Simanovskis, advises against this as many vehicles are in need of replacement this year and will only be more expensive if left until later. No cuts, yet.
November 18, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Coun. Crowley is asking if it's possible to reduce spending on fleet replacement for public works. Commissioner of municipal operations, Ilmar Simanovskis, advises against this as many vehicles are in need of replacement this year and will only be more expensive if left until later. No cuts, yet.
Escribe, the technology used to take and record votes and display reports and agendas, is down globally this morning, so councillors will be taking votes manually. We're beginning on page 155 in the budget book on Municipal Operations.
November 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Escribe, the technology used to take and record votes and display reports and agendas, is down globally this morning, so councillors will be taking votes manually. We're beginning on page 155 in the budget book on Municipal Operations.
Good morning, I'm back at Peterborough City Hall this morning to cover day two of the 2026 city budget talks. Yesterday, councillors made no cuts that affected the all-inclusive tax rate, which still sits at 7.92%.
Follow along here, or watch the live stream live at the link below:
Follow along here, or watch the live stream live at the link below:
Watch Council Meetings | City of Peterborough
Meetings of General Committee and Council normally start at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall. Meetings are live streamed starting at 6 p.m. Agendas, reports, minutes and past meetings are pos...
www.peterborough.ca
November 18, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Good morning, I'm back at Peterborough City Hall this morning to cover day two of the 2026 city budget talks. Yesterday, councillors made no cuts that affected the all-inclusive tax rate, which still sits at 7.92%.
Follow along here, or watch the live stream live at the link below:
Follow along here, or watch the live stream live at the link below:
My story from this morning's budget talks:
Motion to reduce police station spending fails during budget talks
Councillors voted not to reduce budget for renovation and expansion of police facilities.
www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:59 PM
My story from this morning's budget talks:
That's it for my shift covering the budget for the day, but @joellekovach.bsky.social and @arthurnews.bsky.social both have you covered. I'll be back tomorrow morning. Now off to write!
November 17, 2025 at 5:38 PM
That's it for my shift covering the budget for the day, but @joellekovach.bsky.social and @arthurnews.bsky.social both have you covered. I'll be back tomorrow morning. Now off to write!
Baldwin, pointing to other property management repairs across the city, asks if we would consider pointing any other projects off. Barnes says no. Bierk calls a point of order to clarify that he at no point suggested not to fix the roof.
November 17, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Baldwin, pointing to other property management repairs across the city, asks if we would consider pointing any other projects off. Barnes says no. Bierk calls a point of order to clarify that he at no point suggested not to fix the roof.