2025 Town of Ajax Budget

The Town of Ajax budget is presented annually and reflects the strategic direction of Council and continues to build on our course of being a leader in best practices, continuous improvement, excellence and good governance.

How the budget process works

Mayor's budget:

The 2025 budget is being brought forward under recent legislation. Section 284.16 of the Municipal Act (“the Act”) assigns the Mayor the responsibility of preparing and distributing a proposed budget to Council no later than February 1 of each year.

The Act lays out timelines for the budget process, including timelines for Council to bring forward amendments to the budget, for the Mayor to veto Council-approved amendments, and for Council to override such a veto with a two-thirds vote. The Act also includes the opportunity to shorten the timelines.

On April 8, 2024, Council approved a condensed timeline as follows:

The proposed budget will be released to the public on December 6 with a presentation at the Friday, December 13, 2024 public meeting.

Click here to read more about the Mayor’s duties and responsibilities under the Act.

Budget basics:

Learn more about how your tax dollars are used by the Town of Ajax and the Region of Durham through the following informational videos produced by the Municipal Finance Officers’ Association (MFOA), the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), and the Town of Ajax:

Did you know? TOA Property Taxes

How Your Municipal Budget Works

Asset Management Planning

The World of Development Charges

How Property Tax Works

You can also take a listen to the Town's municipal podcast - TOA Talks episode with the Town's Director of Finance/Treasurer, Dianne Valentim. In the episode Dianne provides important points to remember about the budget process, how to learn more about the budget and property taxes. Take a listen here. To check out other episodes of TOA Talks visit ajax.ca/TOATalks.

Many residents ask how the Town of Ajax uses their Property Taxes. Property Taxes are broken down by percentage with the Town of Ajax receiving 33%, while the Region of Durham receives 55%. The remaining 12% goes to the Province of Ontario.

The general budget process includes both the Capital and Operating Budgets:

• The Capital Budget covers major infrastructure projects. One-third of the total capital budget funding is from external sources such as the Canada Community-Building Fund (previously known as Federal Gas Tax), development charges and grants. Major infrastructure projects may include:
  • Roads
  • Vehicles/equipment
  • Parks
  • Sidewalks
  • Trails
  • Streetlights
  • Playgrounds
  • Buildings
• The Operating Budget covers the day-to-day services of the municipality and is mainly funded by property taxesand fees. Some of the things that are supported in the operating budget include:
  • Community Centres
  • Road Maintenance (pot holes, snow clearing)
  • Parks and sports field maintenance
  • Fire and emergency services
  • Community Development

Have your say!

To effectively and efficiently deliver services to the community, public input, feedback, comments, and suggestions are essential. There are numerous ways for Ajax residents to get involved:

• Participate in the budget meeting. Pre-registration is required to participate in the budget meeting online. To participate remotely, please email clerks@ajax.ca no later than noon on the business day preceding the meeting (Thursday, December 12 at 12 p.m.). This year's public budget meeting is scheduled for December 13, 2024 at 9 a.m., the full agenda and related documents will be available one week prior to the meeting at ajax.ca/meetings.
• Ongoing correspondence and interaction with Mayor and Council
• Contact, correspondence, and discussions with Town staff
• Public forums
• Regularly scheduled Council, General Government Committee, and Community Affairs and Planning meetings
• Quality system customer feedback
• The Town’s public engagement forum, In My Opinion (IMO) Hub (this page)
• Social media platforms
• Customer Polling

Finally, receiving comments and questions from the public is one of the first items on the agenda at the Capital and Operating budget meetings.

Follow the 2025 Budget process on this page and subscribe to stay informed about key dates, budget meetings, FAQ's and more.

Questions about the budget process? Ask below!

Previous years' budget meetings:

• 2024 Budget Meeting - January 15, 2024
• 2023 Budget Meeting - February 16, 2023
• 2022 Budget Meeting - February 14, 2022
• 2022 Capital Budget & Long Range Forecast - November 29, 2021
• 2021 Operating & Capital Budget - February 8, 2021