Changes coming to some services as the Region of Waterloo looks for budget savings

The Region of Waterloo succeeded in bringing down its budget, but it had to sacrifice some of its programs. CTV’s Krista Sharpe takes a look at the changes.

Residents may notice changes to some services as the Region of Waterloo looks to save $7 million to stay on budget for the year.

The 2025 operating and capital budget for regional services, which increased 9.48 per cent, was approved by council in December. That works out to approximately $241 more for the average property owner.

Council also promised to come up with other service reductions to try to keep costs down.

A staff report recommended several options, including reducing the estimate of development charge exemptions, skipping the rust control program for regional vehicles and reducing attendance at conferences.

Staff also suggested decreasing the budget for security at certain encampments in the region, including the one at the corner of Victoria Street and Weber Street.

“Unless staff can demonstrate to me that the issues and concerns have been eliminated, and to the best of my knowledge that is not the case, that is not an area that, in my view, we should be targeting,” said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic.

The staff report indicated that if councillors chose to pursue that option, it would mean there would be fewer security guards on site at any one time.

Other proposed cuts would hit close to home for many residents.

“We looked at decreasing facilities maintenance, including landscaping and removing of the salt monitoring during snow accumulation,” explained Michael Harris, a regional councillor and the finance committee chair. “We are going to be looking at cancelling some of our contracts in transportation services.”

Making cuts now, however, could pose a problem down the road.

“Some [reductions] could result in higher costs in the future; for example, reducing short term maintenance could cause significant repairs or failures in the future,” the report warned, adding: “… given ongoing community growth, sustaining these cuts over the medium and long-term may be challenging.”

Proposed changes in the staff report include:

• Reducing fan maintenance in Grand River Transit and police buildings
• Cancelling a review of council renumeration
• Reducing salt inventory for roads
• Reducing bus replacement parts

Regional councillors are expected to discuss the staff report at a meeting on Tuesday.