As of May 1, 2025, the Government of Ontario expanded strong mayor powers to the Municipality of Kincardine. As part of the strong mayor powers, Mayor Craig has a duty to prepare and propose the budget before February 1. As part of the process, the mayor’s budget is subject to council amendments, a mayoral veto and council override. Mayor Craig will propose his budget by November 21, 2025.
Budget
Understanding Budget Basics
Your first question may be "What are operating and capital expenses?"
Operating expenses are expenses required for the day-to-day needs of the Municipality. Operating expenses help us to maintain the current levels of services in the community and cover items like snow plowing, parks and recreation maintenance, fire and police services, and administrative costs.
Capital expenses cover one-time projects (note: this is why we sometimes refer to it as the "Project Budget") which serve as an investment in our future and benefit our overall community. Examples include costs for a new building roof, road repairs, and replacement of vehicles and equipment.
To learn more about budget basics and fuel your participation in the budget process, we encourage you to review the Understanding Budget Basics document.
2026 Staff Proposed Business Plan and Consolidated Budget
Public Consultation
Residents are encouraged to provide their input on the proposed budgets.
When beginning the budget process, the Municipality of North Perth asks the community to complete a Budget Survey. This survey is available for approximately 4 weeks on the Your Say North Perth platform and paper copies are available at the Municipal Office and North Perth Public Library branches.
The results from the survey are complied and presented to the North Perth Council at a budget meeting. The results from the survey help the Council and the municipal senior management team build their budget with a focus on the needs of the community.
Strong Mayor Powers FAQs
What do the Strong Mayor Powers have to do with the municipal budget?
Can a mayor delegate their special powers and duties to propose the budget?
No, the legislation does not allow the Mayor to delegate their powers and duties related to the budget, the duty could only be forfeited by the Mayor by not proposing a budget prior to February 1, 2026.
How does Strong Mayor Powers affect the budget process?
The Municipal Act, 2001, is a provincial statute that regulates Strong Mayor Powers in Ontario. The Mayor’s special powers and duties under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001, include powers to propose the municipal budget, which would be subject to council amendments and a mayoral veto and council override process.
In a municipality designated by the province, including the Municipality of Kincardine, the mayor is required by the Municipal Act, 2001 and Ontario Regulation 530/22 to prepare a budget for the municipality and provide it to each member of council and to the clerk on or before February 1st of each year.
After the budget is proposed, council has 30 days to pass resolutions to amend the mayor's budget. If there are no amendments passed within the 30-day period, the mayor’s budget is adopted.
If council passes resolutions to amend the mayor's budget, the mayor can decide to veto council’s resolutions within 10 days of the expiry of the time period for council to pass a resolution.
If the mayor doesn’t veto any amendments within the 10-day period, the budget as amended by Council resolutions is deemed adopted.
If the mayor vetoes council’s resolutions to amend the mayor's budget, council can vote to override the veto within 15 days of the expiry of the time period for the mayor to veto a resolution. In the vote to override a veto, two-thirds of the members of council must vote to override the veto or the vote will fail. If council overrides the mayor’s veto, the amendment passed by council will continue to have effect. If council does not vote to override the mayor’s veto, then the budget is adopted by the municipality after the expiry of the time period for council to override the mayor’s veto.
What are the Mayor's Veto and Budget Process?
Strong Mayor Power’s provide a specific veto process with respect to the Mayor’s Budget. The mayor is expected to propose a budget prior to February 1 of the budget year, and the council may make amendments to the budget. The Mayor may veto the amendments made by council, and council can then override the mayor’s veto with a 2/3 vote up to 15 days after the mayor’s veto. The mayoral power to veto municipal council amendments to the Mayor’s Budget is not limited to provincial priorities.
The Mayor’s Budget is ‘deemed to be adopted’ based on timeframes set out in the legislation, not approved by council.
Contact Us
Municipality of North Perth
330 Wallace Avenue North
Listowel, ON N4W 1L3
Tel: 519-291-2950
Toll Free: 1-888-714-1993
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