TAMRMS#: B06
6.2
REQUEST FOR DECISION
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2026 Budget Deliberation Process
Presented by: Marta Caufield, Chief Legislative Officer
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RECOMMENDED MOTION(S)
recommendation
1. That section 55 of the Procedure Bylaw 24/2022 be suspended for the 2026 Budget Deliberation to allow the addition of information as required without formally amending the agenda.
(requires unanimous consent of all members present - Procedure Bylaw s. 3(6))
2. That consideration of proposed amendments to the proposed 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets made during presentations be automatically postponed without need of a motion to that effect, until all presentations have been completed.
3. That the Budget Information Requests and Postponed Motions received to date, set out as attachments to the report dated November 4, 2025, entitled "2026 Budget Deliberation Process", are hereby accepted as presented and deemed fully a part of the 2026 Budget Deliberation Process as though they were read verbatim into the record.
4. That Council move into Committee of the Whole.
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SUMMARY
This report provides a proposed methodology for Council to use in the 2026 Budget Deliberation Process. Passing the recommended motions will allow Council a greater degree of flexibility in dealing with the first phase of presentations and discussions with respect to the 2026 operating and capital budgets.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
The Procedure Bylaw provides that:
- Council may waive or vary all or some of the provisions of this bylaw for a meeting or a portion of a meeting, “if the Councillors present vote unanimously to do so” (s. 3(6));
- Council may convene as a Committee of the Whole which “may consider any matter that Council may consider, including but not limited to detailed consideration of . . . the budget” (s. 23(a));
- Committee of the Whole may “give direction to the Chief Administrative Officer in the preparation and continued development of a matter being reviewed by the Committee of the Whole … prior to those matters being transmitted from Committee of the Whole … to Council” (s. 24(i));
- The procedures of Council are relaxed in Committee of the Whole as follows (s. 30):
• A member of Council may speak even though there is no motion on the floor, but if there is a motion on the floor a member of Council shall only address that motion;
• A member of Council may speak more than once, provided that each member of Council who wishes to speak to the matter has already been permitted to do so;
• With the permission of the Mayor, persons other than Councillors may be seated at the Council table and on the Council floor;
• No notice needs to be given of any motion to be made; and
• The Mayor may make a motion on any matter without relinquishing the chair.
- Subject to section 24 of the Procedure Bylaw, Committee of the Whole may make motions to “give direction to the CAO” (s. 31(d)); and
- When the Chair is satisfied that all questions from Council members, either to the CAO or to the Council member who moved the motion, have been responded to, the Chair accepts the motion provided that upon being accepted by the Chair a motion may not be withdrawn by the Council member who moved it, but a motion may at any time prior to being put to a vote (including a vote on a proposed amendment to the motion) be subject to revision through friendly amendment by way of general consent (s. 65(d)).
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Historically, Council has exercised its option to move into Committee of the Whole during the first phase of the budget process when much information is presented, and a variety of spending and revenue alternatives are considered. By taking this step, Council obtains significantly more procedural flexibility than is allowed in regular Council meetings.
From time to time, especially during the budget process, even more relaxation of the normal rules of procedure than is provided for by section 30 of the Procedure Bylaw may be appropriate. This can be done under the Procedure Bylaw if each Councillor present votes in favour of waiving all or part of the provisions of the Procedure Bylaw for a meeting or a portion of a meeting.
The type of circumstance where greater flexibility has proven to be useful in the past is as follows:
1. Section 55 of the Procedure Bylaw states that:
After an Agenda has been determined, no addition shall be made to the Agenda unless Council agrees, by Special Resolution when adopting the Agenda, to add one or more urgent matters to the Agenda.
The 2026 Budget will be considered in a series of sessions commencing with some of the departmental presentations on November 5, 2025. Department presentations are are currently in the leadoff spot on this date with some additional Outside agency presentations to follow on same date and the departmental presentations will continue on November 6, 2025. These budget sessions are intended to give Council members an opportunity for detailed scrutiny of the budget documents including informal questions, formal Budget Information Requests, and Postponed Motions to amend the budget. During this process, in order to facilitate a smooth flow of business, there may be a need to add agenda items, or for Administration to respond to previous or newly arising Budget Information Requests. By suspending section 55 this can be done without the necessity for Council repeatedly to amend the agenda by resolution. (This is the basis for Recommended Motion #1 above)
The Agenda as presented calls for department presentations, as mentioned above, prior to Council (in Committee of the Whole) moving into the fine-tuning phase in preparation for final approval of the operating and capital budgets.
Throughout this process it is important that members of Council have no procedural obstacles to asking questions, receiving additional information on specific issues, or proposing motions that, if adopted, would have an impact on the final mathematics of the budget.
Requests for information, where the response can be provided immediately, will not appear in the minutes. When additional research is required, the request will be recorded in the minutes and Administration will provide the response to Council at the earliest possible opportunity.
Recommended Motion #2 clarifies that voting on any motion seeking to amend the 2026 Budget, made during the department presentations, will be postponed until all the presentations have been heard.
Recommended Motion #3 - The Budget Information Requests (BIRs) and Postponed Motions (PMs) set out as attachments are somewhat lengthy and are set out in a format that can be awkward to read through orally. Passing this motion would save Council some time and would also ensure that the BIRs and PMs are strictly accurate.
Recommended Motion #4 - Following adoption of the procedural motions as outlined in Recommended Motions #1 through #3, a motion to move into Committee of the Whole would be appropriate.
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
As per previous years, Communications & Public Affairs conducted a Cultivate the Conversation online survey regarding the 2025 Proposed Budget.
IMPACTS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial:
None at this time.
Compliance & Legal:
Passing the recommended motions allows Council greater flexibility during budget deliberations. If the motions are not passed as presented, Council will be bound by the regular meeting rules found in the Procedure Bylaw.
Program or Service:
None at this time.
Organizational:
None at this time.
Risks
None at this time.
ALIGNMENT TO PRIORITIES IN COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC PLAN
None at this time.
ALIGNMENT TO LEVELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
None at this time.
IMPACTS OF ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
None at this time.
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Report Date: November 4, 2025
Author: Marta Caufield, Chief Legislative Officer
Department: Legal, Legislative & Records Services
Department Director: Marta Caufield
Chief Administrative Officer: Bill Fletcher