Council approves Richmond Hill's budget each year. The approval process involves a detailed presentation and discussion by senior management staff and the Budget Committee of the Whole (made up of Members of Council).

Department budgets

Richmond Hill's four operating departments and the Richmond Hill Public Library develop a budget for their department each year. Their budgets must include current services and consider any options to reduce costs. The departments are also asked to make sure that service fees and charges are reasonable.

Approval process

Planning Richmond Hill's annual budget involves five stages of approval. These stages include a budget strategy, the Capital Budget and 10-year capital forecast and the Operating Budget.

Stage one

The first stage involves the development and approval of a budget strategy for the upcoming year. This strategy considers needs and pressures that will affect the budget. Council approves the budget strategy before they break for the summer.

Stage two

Richmond Hill staff reviews the fees and charges in stage two of the approval process. Some fees need updating because of tax rate pressures. They must also consider the cost of providing services and comparable market rates in order to update fees. The Budget Committee approves the final fees and charges.

The Committee includes approved fees and charges in a staff report that explains how much money Richmond Hill expects to raise from these payments, which is considered in development of the Operating Budget. 

Stage three

Stage three takes place in the summer and early fall. A Capital Budget for the upcoming year and a 10-year capital forecast are developed for the senior staff and the Budget Committee. They decide which new projects Richmond Hill will need to pay for. These projects sometimes include operating requirements such as building maintenance and road resurfacing. Senior management and the Budget Committee also consider the impact these projects will have on Richmond Hill's reserve funds.

Stage four

Richmond Hill's departments submit detailed operating requests for the upcoming year by early September for stage four of the budget approval process. Operation needs and services for next year are compared to the current year, including:

• Salaries
• New staff
• Technical needs
• Training

Requests for new operation needs and services are presented in a business case to defend the expenses.

Finance staff and senior management review these budgets in October. The operating budgets are usually divided into the base budget (for maintaining current services) and new items (for new services or staff requested).

Stage five

The final stage of the budget approval process is the presentation of the draft operating budget and forecasts to the Budget Committee and senior management staff. The Budget Committee considers feedback submitted by the community as they review the draft budget.

The Budget Committee recommends a final operation budget for approval.