Tax Dollars Spent Carefully, and Spent in the Open
Spending well isn't the same as spending less.
Londoners deserve credit for what's gone right. The 2026 property tax increase came down to 3.4%, partly through real internal savings of about $9.6 million. That's the direction we should keep going. But the underlying spending pattern at City Hall still needs work. The city contracts out a significant share of its strategic thinking to outside firms, then funds the implementation, then commissions follow-up reports to evaluate it. Each step has a cost. Few have a clear public ledger.
Downtown London has too many vacant commercial buildings sitting stagnant year after year, with a significant share of the core's storefronts abandoned and dragging down the surrounding tax base. A vacant building registry, which charges fees on owners who leave commercial properties empty and earmarks revenue for revitalization, directly addresses this. Council has failed to properly act on it, and the problem has only gotten worse: downtown London's office vacancy rate has climbed for three straight years to 31.5%, the highest of any major Canadian city.
A public consultant and contract dashboard on london.ca.
Every external contract over $50,000 listed with the dollar value, the deliverable, the department that commissioned it, and a one-line outcome statement filed within six months of completion.A "build it once" rule for major reports.
Before Council approves any new third-party study on a topic the city has already studied within the previous five years, staff must produce a public memo explaining what's actually changed.Permanent staff capacity over repeat consulting.
Where the city pays the same firm year after year for the same work, convert that spend into permanent positions. Cheaper over five years and builds institutional memory.A standing service review on a rotating four-year cycle.
Every department reviewed for service levels, staffing, and overhead. A permanent expectation, not a one-time exercise.Hold property tax increases to 4% or less for 2027 and 2028.
The Mayor's projected 4.7% for 2027 should be a ceiling, not a starting point.A vacant commercial building bylaw for the downtown core.
Downtown London has the highest office vacancy rate in Canada, and Ward 7 ratepayers help carry the tax load while those buildings sit empty. I will bring forward a council motion in the first six months of the term directing staff to draft a registry bylaw with annual fees and escalating penalties for vacant commercial buildings, modelled on the bylaws already enacted in St. Catharines, Oshawa, and the Town of Prescott. Revenue would be dedicated to downtown revitalization and affordable housing.
Vacant Building Registry and Escalating Fee Bylaw
A draft bylaw proposal for the City of London Downtown Core, written for senior staff and Council. Eleven pages covering geographic scope, an escalating fee schedule from $1,000 to $20,000 per year, a beneficial-ownership lookup that closes the corporate-split loophole, an active-construction relief mechanism, revenue allocation for affordable housing and downtown revitalization, and risks and responses for legal challenge.