Council approves 2025 City of Ottawa budget [Video]

City council has voted to approve the 2025 City of Ottawa budget that will include scaled back fare hikes for seniors and retain youth discount passes while raising taxes across the board for most homeowners.

“This has been obviously a very challenging budget process,” Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said at the conclusion of the six hour marathon council meeting on Wednesday.

“It is not perfect, but no budget is, having said that, I do believes that it strikes a very good balance between investing in what matters most in our community and protecting affordability for our residents.”

Councillors voted 22-3 to approve the budget, with Laine Johnson, Sean Devine and Jeff Leiper voting against.

Residents will see a 2.9 per cent property tax increase plus a hike to the transit levy that would raise the average urban property tax bill by $168 in 2025. The draft budget earmarks an eight per …