The London Transit Commission (LTC) will consider a pair of budget reports that could extend service into new neighbourhoods, while at the same time, shift some of the cost of local bus service off existing property taxpayers in 2026. The first report from LTC administration recommends a one-time reduction of $700,000 from its 2026 budget request being submitted to city hall. Coun. Skylar Franke, who chairs the LTC, emphasizes that the savings come from one-time sources that were not anticipated prior to this year. “In our gas budget we had obviously overestimated. Now with the reduction in [the] carbon tax, we’ve been able to save a bit of money,” Franke explains. “And additionally, there’s a reduction in our insurance fees for next year.” The staff report adds, “there’s no anticipated impacts to service as the result of this reduction.” A second report for LTC’s consideration would request $2.1 million dollars to extend bus service to new parts of the city. The funding would come from city hall’s process for allocating annual assessment growth — the amount of property tax generated on new construction within the city. The funding would support service expansion in 2026 to Cedar Hollow, Innovation Park, Summerside, and Sheffield, Kains Road and Upperpoint Boulevard, and west Byron. The report also recommends developing a business case for bus service expansions for Hyde Park and Foxhollow in 2027. Funding the service improvements through assessment growth would avoid having the cost contribute to next year’s property tax increase. City hall’s financial principle that “growth pays for growth” means that property taxes assessed on new developments should pay to expand municipal services that address the needs of a growing city, like expanded snow plowing, garbage collection, firefighting, and policing. However, London Transit and City Hall had previously been unable to agree on a growth metric that could be used to justify an Assessment Growth Business Case for expanding bus service. A recent breakthrough arrived at a specific growth metric that would qualify under the strict rules. Specifically, measuring the number of additional residents and commercial/institutional buildings within 400 metres of public transit service. “There’s new riders in these new subdivisions, so this is an opportunity for us to take their new property tax money and be able to spend it on services that they need and should be able to use,” explains Franke. “These areas have been slated to get bus improvements, but we hadn’t actually put enough money into the multi-year budget process.” At the outset of the 2026 annual budget update process, the anticipated tax levy increase for 2026 was at 6.4 per cent. In January, the mayor announced his tax target in 2026 is below five per cent, requiring about $13 million in new revenue and savings. In May, Budget Chair Elizabeth Peloza and Mayor Josh Morgan asked the LTC to look for potential budget savings in 2026, and the commission also asked staff to continue working with city staff to find appropriate opportunities for Assessment Growth Business Cases. The London Transit Commission will consider the budget reports on Wednesday.
