Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says he could squeeze another $250 million in savings out of Ottawa City Hall without cutting programs or services, with the mayoral candidate planning to freeze some hiring and discretionary spending to keep property tax increases low if he is re-elected.
Sutcliffe, who’s seeking a second term as mayor, is promising to find another $250 million in savings and efficiencies while limiting property tax increases to between two and 2.5 per cent for the first two years of his next term.
He is also pledging to cut the cost of a monthly transit pass to $95 and freeze several municipal fees.
“I think the most important thing to remember is just what our residents are going through right now,” Sutcliffe said in an interview with iPolitics. “They’re struggling to pay for the rising cost of gas and food and housing – we need to respect that.”
Sutcliffe said the savings would not come from cuts to the core programs residents rely on, instead he will be looking at freezing hires in non-essential services.
“We’re going to freeze discretionary spending,” Sutcliffe said.
During his first term, Sutcliffe also targeted municipal costs. In his 2023 budget, his council carved out $47 million in immediate efficiencies across city services.
Some of the big-ticket things that the incumbent said he will not be cutting is public transit, which saw an increased spending by 30 per cent during his term, infrastructure by 40 per cent, and supportive housing spending by 250 per cent.
He also pointed to increased police funding and hiring additional officers, pointing that those investments can continue alongside further savings and efficiencies.
On lowering monthly transit passes to $95–one that Sutcliffe described to be the lowest in Canada–the incumbent said the proposed provincial upload of Ottawa’s LRT would help fund the lower transit fare, but maintained the city could move ahead with the monthly pass before the deal is finalized.
He said the upload would free up roughly $85 million annually that could be reinvested into transit and lower fares.
Sutcliffe’s approach to keeping taxes low stands in contrast to mayoral rival Jeff Leiper, who has resisted setting a predetermined tax target and instead says the city should first assess its spending needs.
Leiper unveiled his own affordability plan this week, promising to keep property tax increases “predictable and affordable” while introducing a dedicated one per cent infrastructure levy.
His campaign estimates the levy would cost the average homeowner about $28 a year and generate $25.5 million annually to help address the city’s infrastructure funding gap.
Asked whether the two plans reflect a fundamental disagreement over whether Ottawa has a spending or revenue problem, Sutcliffe said raising taxes should be a “last resort.”
“I think our first option is to do the hard work to find savings and efficiencies at City hall and to get the investment from other levels of government,” he said.
He argued his administration has been able to keep taxes relatively low while securing more than $5 billion in funding commitments from the provincial and federal governments over the past four years, an approach he said he would continue in a second term.
“Other cities get big checks from other levels of government,” Sutcliffe said. “We have to keep getting our share of that infrastructure money, that money for transit, that money for transportation, that money for housing.”
“I’m not going to just let the other cities get that kind of money and just add to the burden of local taxpayers,” he said.
