That with respect to Report C2024-1097, the following amendment be adopted: That a new Recommendation be inserted, as follows, and that all Recommendations be renumbered accordingly if necessary: With respect to Transit Fares: Direct Administration to reverse the November 2023 Fare Freeze and reinvest the $3,000,000 to advance the Primary Transit Network in the RouteAhead Strategy. ;Administration is requesting approval for a net-zero adjustment to increase budgeted revenues and budgeted expenses accordingly; and ; Approve Distribution 6, User Fee Table.
Motion C2024-1097 bundles three council directions: 1) re-create a Finance and Budget Committee to do detailed reviews of operating budgets and oversee service planning each four-year term, 2) reverse the 2023 transit fare freeze so fare changes can resume and move $3,000,000 into the Primary Transit Network, and 3) ask the provincial government to waive Section 358.1 of the Municipal Government Act to avoid shifting tax burden between residential and non‑residential property classes.
These steps increase council oversight of how money and services are planned, could restart changes to transit fares while directing new funds to transit network improvements, and seek temporary provincial relief to prevent tax-class shifts while assessment values rebalance.