Finance Committee Reviews 2025 Investment Portfolio and Reserve Funding

The Finance Committee reviewed the town's 2025 investment portfolio, annual building permit fee report, development charge reserve statements, and key performance indicators on May 28, 2026. Discussion focused on the town's fixed-income investment strategy, reserve funding for major growth projects including the Peach King Centre, the building department's year-end results, and how the municipality compares with peers on taxes, reserves, and debt.

Topics Discussed

1. PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS: Finance Report 26-15

Investment advisor Nick Pulas of CIBC presented an update on the town's portfolio, telling the committee, "it's been a couple years since we've been back to have this conversation and I think it's safe to say that a lot has happened in the market over that 2-year period." He said the town's investments remain concentrated in fixed income.

The discussion turned to whether the town should eventually broaden its investment approach. Councillor Reg Freake asked whether there was "an opportunity to consider relooking at the IPS" to allow a portion of the portfolio to earn higher returns, saying that could "effectively lower the tax rate" in strong investment years or add to reserves. Nick DiFlavio said, "I think that at some point we're probably going to have to look at whether it makes sense for us to become a prudent investor municipality."

Staff and the advisor said any change would have to reflect the town's time horizon and liquidity needs. Freake said investment choices should be split between short-term and long-term needs, asking whether funds not needed for 10 years could tolerate more risk.

2. BUILDING PERMIT FEES: Finance Report 26-16

The committee reviewed the 2025 Annual Building Permit Fee Report. The report showed $830,915 in permit fees collected, a $438,000 transfer from the building department reserve, total revenue of about $1.2 million, expenses of $887,163, and a reported surplus of $381,782.

Treasurer Del Monaco said, "without that reserve transfer in, the building department would have actually experienced a deficit rather than a surplus in the year." The reserve balance declined from about $1.973 million to $1.936 million.

Committee members discussed the volatility of permit revenue and asked for more historical context in future reports.

3. DEVELOPMENT CHARGE RESERVES: Finance Report 26-17

The committee reviewed the 2025 development charge reserve fund statements. Staff reported the reserve started the year at about $8.5 million, received roughly $1.8 million in collections and interest, and ended near $10 million after about $410,000 in spending.

Discussion focused on how growth-related projects are funded and how reserve balances can go negative under the Development Charges Act. Delight Davoli told members, "if that causes the reserve to go into a negative balance that is actually allowed under the development charge act," and said that amount is then factored into the next development charge bylaw update so future growth pays back the cost.

The largest outflow related to Fire Station 2 funding and debt payments. Staff also said about $9 million in growth-related debt is planned for the Peach King Centre, with annual draws from the community services reserve over 30 years.

4. PEACH KING CENTRE FUNDING AND LIQUIDITY

The Peach King Centre was discussed during both the investment and development charge items. Staff said some investments maturing in early 2026 were intended to cover Peach King Centre expenses rather than be reinvested.

The committee also discussed a planned debenture of about $20 million. Staff said construction costs may need to be paid before debenture proceeds are received, meaning redeemed bonds could temporarily fund the project until borrowing is finalized.

5. FINANCIAL INDICATORS AND KPIs: Finance Report 26-18

The committee reviewed a financial indicators and KPI report comparing the town with peer municipalities. Treasurer Del Monaco said the town remained in the low-risk range on the indicators presented. Outstanding taxes receivable were reported at 5.2% in 2024 and 5.4% in 2025, below the regional median of 7.8%.

Members also discussed reserve adequacy and infrastructure funding. Councillor Don Howe said, "given the relatively low contribution level to our tax supported asset management reserves, we may need to tap into this debt capacity in the coming years as we address our infrastructure backlog." Davoli added that current contributions are "about halfway short of where we estimate we need to be to be sustainable long term," which she quantified as about $9.1 million annually.

Benchmarking also drew discussion. Freake said, "I can't see a reason why we shouldn't be benchmarking ourselves in as many categories as possible or reasonable to do so." Mayor Jeff Jordan, after reviewing comparisons with municipalities that have large commercial and industrial tax bases, said, "I was absolutely astonished" by how high some property tax bills were.

Motions

• Finance Report 26-16: 2025 Annual Building Permit Fee Report — Approved
• Finance Report 26-17: 2025 Development Charge Reserve Fund Statements — Approved, with the treasurer's annual statement to be made publicly available on the town's website and upon request
• Finance Report 26-18: Key Performance Indicators — Approved for information

Attendees

• Councillor Reg Freake
• Councillor Don Howe
• Nick DiFlavio
• Treasurer Del Monaco
• Delight Davoli
• Mayor Jeff Jordan
• Nick Pulas, CIBC