City of St. John’s Releases Budget 2025

Today, the City of St. John’s released the details of Budget 2025, which addresses growing operating costs while ensuring no cuts to programs and services. The 2025 Budget for the City of St. John’s is balanced at $349,151,881, an increase of 1.5% over 2024.

“Council’s goal for Budget 2025 was to hold the line and ensure that every dollar is spent wisely, maintaining and developing programs and services that our community values,” said Councillor Ron Ellsworth, Council lead for Finance. “As such, there are no reductions or cuts to programs or services and there will be no increase to mil rates for 2025.”

The residential mil rate will remain at 9.1 and the commercial mil rate will remain at 29.5. Water tax will marginally increase by $15 per unit for residential properties and 2.22% for commercial. All revenue from the water tax directly funds the provision of the service.

Budget 2025 outlines a number of investments in programs and services. Highlights include:

• An investment of almost $25 million for capital project spending, which supports important projects like fleet enhancement, road rehabilitation, sidewalk repairs, traffic safety initiatives, information technology, repairs and enhancements to facilities and capital grants to community groups.
• Investing over $2 million to enhance sidewalk snow clearing, including shared use paths.
• A 10% increase in investment for the City’s Grant Program of $143,000.
• An investment of $703,000 to Advantage St. John’s, a regional economic development agency that was formed this year. The agency will align resources between the Town of Paradise, Town of Conception Bay South and St. John’s to collectively elevate economic development opportunities and build stronger and more resilient communities in the region.
• An additional $598,000 is allocated to Metrobus for service enhancements, acquisition of hybrid buses and capital costs associated with the transition to zero emission buses.

The City also reduced its operating grant to St. John’s Sports and Entertainment for 2025 by $727,000. This reduction reflects a rise in concerts, events, and meeting bookings across both the Mary Brown's Centre and St. John’s Convention Centre. This growth in event scheduling is projected to enhance revenue streams and offset operating costs.

As identified in the City’s strategic plan, Our City, Our Future, The City of St. John’s has a strategic direction to be a sustainable City. Ensuring a balanced and responsible annual budget helps us achieve this priority.

Related Links:

• 2025 Budget Book
• Budget 2025 webpage