Clear and accurate financial reporting offers a transparent look at where the money in the City Budget comes from and how it is spent. This reporting is critical in making sure you are able to understand the City’s financial situation and are prepared to participate fully in the budget process.
Annual Reports
Long-Term Financial Overview
The City's long-term financial planning reflects our commitment to sustainable growth and fiscal responsibility.
On January 23, 2024, the City Treasurer presented the City’s Long-Term Financial Overview to City Council. The presentation outlined a number of key areas of interest including:
Financial Projections for 2025-2029
Looking ahead, our financial projections from 2025 to 2029 are built on conservative assumptions to safeguard against economic uncertainties. These include maintaining departmental budgets at zero percent increases (excluding mandatory wage and benefit increases) while also accounting for continued inflationary pressures on boards and agencies, insurance, and utilities. We are also planning for 5% annual increases in capital investments financed by the tax levy, supported by strategic debenture funding, ensuring continuous investment in the City's infrastructure and services.
Performance
The City’s credit rating reflects our financial stability and affects our ability to finance projects and services efficiently. A good credit rating helps us keep borrowing costs low and manage public funds more effectively.
S&P Global Ratings has reaffirmed the City of Thunder Bay's credit rating of AA+ for 2024. Over the next two years the City is expected to continue to maintain a low debt burden and overall sound financial results. S&P Global recognizes the City's local economy as anchored by its large, stabilizing public sector. These conditions, supported by the City's exceptional liquidity position, led S&P Global to reaffirm the AA+ rating for the second year in a row following the rating improvement last June due to changes by S&P Global to the institutional framework assessment for Canadian municipalities.
How does Thunder Bay compare to other Ontario cities?
When compared to other Ontario municipalities with populations over 100,000, Thunder Bay sits in the middle for residential taxes for a single-family detached bungalow. The average municipal tax per household for Thunder Bay is $4,248, which is below the provincial average for municipalities with populations over 100,000 ($4,628).
The Ontario average for all 121 municipalities that took part in the study was $3,837, but it should be noted that many smaller Municipalities do not offer the same level of services. Over the last 10 years, the City of Thunder Bay has been over the Ontario average but has also consistently been below the average of municipalities with populations over 100,000.
The City of Thunder Bay participates in an annual municipal comparative study conducted by BMA Management Consulting Inc., that compares financial information, user fees, tax policies and rates, sewer and water services, and taxes as a percentage of income.
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