{"id":37235,"date":"2025-11-27T13:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T18:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37235"},"modified":"2025-12-04T15:45:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T20:45:34","slug":"auroras-2026-tax-increase-expected-to-stay-at-2-2-per-cent-following-mayoral-vetoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/auroras-2026-tax-increase-expected-to-stay-at-2-2-per-cent-following-mayoral-vetoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora\u2019s 2026 tax increase expected to stay at 2.2 per cent following Mayoral vetoes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aurora\u2019s 2026 municipal budget will likely hold at a 2.2 per cent tax increase after Mayor Tom Mrakas formally vetoed budget amendments passed by Council on November 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council met last Monday for a Special Council meeting for local lawmakers to propose amendments to the municipal budget which, following changes in municipalities granted Strong Mayor powers from the Provincial Government, is a financial blueprint now introduced by the Mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of ten amendments were brought forward by Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While an amendment from Ward 1 Councillor Ron Weese to provide additional funding to the Aurora Farmers\u2019 Market through the Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve, a fund that doesn\u2019t impact the tax levy, and a further motion from Ward 2 Councillor Rachel Gilliland to \u201cpause\u201d the addition of sail shade structures at Aurora Town Square pending further analysis, were approved by Council \u2013 the lion\u2019s share were voted down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two significant exceptions, however, were a motion from Councillor Weese to pause funding for the Aurora Sports Hall of Fame until audited financial statements for 2025 were \u201creceived and approved by Council\u201d and a motion from Ward 5 Councillor John Gallo directing staff to come back with a budget reflecting a 0% tax increase while maintaining current service levels were approved \u2013 and ultimately vetoed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The motion related to the Aurora Sports Hall of Fame generated a great deal of discussion around the table. It was also the subject of a delegation from Aurora Sports Hall of Fame President Javed Khan who stated no other organization that receives their amount of funding from the municipality are required to provide such an audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the past several days, I have taken the time to thoroughly consider each amendment, review the impacts on our financial plan, and speak directly with many staff and residents about these proposed changes,\u201d said Mayor Tom Mrakas, in his formal statement on the vetoes. \u201cAfter careful consideration, I believe these two amendments could have a significant negative impact on the municipality\u2014an outcome I feel strongly should be avoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs your Mayor, my responsibility is to protect the long-term financial health of our Town, uphold fairness and transparency, and prevent decisions that put Aurora at risk. In my view, these two amendments do exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Municipal policies, he said, only require audits for organizations that generate general revenues over $250,000. The Aurora Sports Hall of Fame, he continued, receives \u201cnowhere near that amount\u201d and has complied with all financial asks from the Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Aurora Sports Hall of Fame is a volunteer-driven, nationally recognized institution that celebrates, preserves, and educates residents about our Town\u2019s sports heritage,\u201d said Mayor Mrakas. \u201cThey strengthen our identity as the Town of Champions \u2013 and they deserve fairness, not moving goalposts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving forward with Councillor Gallo\u2019s motion to bring in a 0 per cent tax increase, he continued, would \u201cgut\u201d capital funding and \u201craid\u201d reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s trading for today and it\u2019s financially reckless. This approach is basically asking the Town to take out a payday loan \u2013 Borrow from reserves today; pretend everything is fine; and then pay it back \u2013 with interest \u2013 next year; leaving residents with the risk of a massive tax increase in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAurora has built a reputation \u2014 over many years \u2014 for strong financial stewardship. Under my leadership, this Town has never seen a tax increase anywhere near 5%\u2026 and it never will. To better preserve and protect the integrity of our established capital plan, infrastructure and service delivery and the long-term financial stability of our municipality, I will be issuing a veto of Amendment #10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAurora\u2019s financial health has been built on years of responsible, steady, transparent budgeting \u2014 Not gimmicks. Not short-term thinking. And definitely not through decisions that mortgage our future for short-term talking points. Aurora deserves responsible decision-making, honest budgeting, and leadership that protects residents both today and tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional amendments considered last week included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A motion from Ward 2 Councillor Harold Kim, which would have given inflationary increases to the municipal funds allocated to the Aurora Public Library, Aurora Cultural Centre, Aurora Historical Society, and Aurora Sports Hall of Fame. This did not receive a seconder and was not discussed;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A motion from Councillor Weese to increase funding to Aurora\u2019s nine registered Ratepayers Associations to pay for meeting expenses up to $500 per Association. This was defeated;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A motion from Councillor Gilliland to pause funding for a new LED Screen for use at special events. This motion was defeated on a vote of 4 \u2013 2, with only Councillors Gilliland and Wendy Gaertner voting in favour of it. Councillor Thompson was not present for the meeting;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A motion from Councillor Gilliland to add a new capital project in the budget \u2013 an off-leash dog park in west Aurora. This was defeated 5 \u2013 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A motion from Councillor Gilliland to remove a new student position with a salary of $47,000, funded by the Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve, which was defeated on a tie vote;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy amendments came from a place of wanting to enhance what\u2019s already been proposed, in a spirit of collaboration and shared commitment to our Town\u2019s future,\u201d said Councillor Gilliland in a social media post following last week\u2019s meeting. \u201cThis isn\u2019t about criticizing anyone\u2019s work, but about fine-tuning our priorities so that we can best serve our community together. Each of these amendments were really about ensuring that our spending aligns with our shared goals of community well-being, local economic vitality, and principles. Process and information were not always clear, coupled with mixed messaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all want the same thing: a budget that reflects the \u2018needs\u2019 of our residents, supports our local businesses, and promotes a vibrant, balanced community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aurora\u2019s 2026 municipal budget will likely hold at a 2.2 per cent tax increase after Mayor Tom Mrakas formally vetoed budget amendments passed by Council on November 17. Council met last Monday for a Special Council meeting for local lawmakers to propose amendments to the municipal budget which, following changes in municipalities granted Strong Mayor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9Gz","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 13:18:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37236,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37235\/revisions\/37236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}