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Brantford city councillors were urged to think about future as they begin 2026 budget deliberations.

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Chuck Beach, of the Brant Tree Coalition, asked councillors to develop a tree canopy plan and remember the city’s Climate Change Action Plan.

“Together, with long-term thinking we can make a difference for future generations,” Beach said.

In some jurisdictions political opinion is waning on the issue of climate change largely due to economic issues. Locally, two people who were working on the municipality’s climate change action plan are no longer with the city, Beach said.

“My concern is that there is no champion to remind council of its commitments to its Climate Change Action Plan,” Beach said of the plan adopted by council in 2020.

Beach referenced a Feb 8, 2024 Brantford Expositor article citing a report which identified Brantford as a climate change hot spot. The article came from a study by the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Change and put Brantford among the “hottest” metropolitan areas in Canada in the period from 2051 to 2080.

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Trees cool the earth and Beach said the city had a goal of increasing its tree canopy, which was 21.5 per cent in 2022, to 40 per cent .To hit the 40 per cent target over the next 29 years, the city would have to plant 581,567 or roughly 20,000 trees a year.

Beach asked city councillors to develop a tree canopy plan to reach an achievable goal.

Beach was the only Brantford resident to speak directly to councillors at the Monday (Nov. 24) estimates committee meeting. The committee reviews the city’s operating and capital budget.

While Beach raised concerns about climate change, Brantford residents who participated in a pre-budget public engagement campaign raised other issues, Maria Visocchi, the city’s director, communications, community engagement and customer service, said.

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“What we heard this year was consistent with what we heard last year,” Visocchi said as she provided councillors with an overview of the campaign. “Transit and infrastructure improvements remain the number one priority, especially road repairs and traffic flow.

“This year we heard more about construction and the timing of the work.”

Visocchi said support for vulnerable citizens remains important.

But the issue is becoming polarized as some residents put it at the top of the list while others put it at the bottom, a change from last year’s campaign.

At present, the city’s 2026 operating budget is $148,306,614 million or a 4.66 per cent increase in spending over last year. The budget includes just over $1.347 million in improvements to the transit system including more buses and bus drivers as the city works to implement an improved transit system.

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For taxpayers, the operating budget represents a $120.46 a year or $10.04 increase in property taxes. However, those figures don’t include the budgets for organizations that are either funded or partially funded by the city including the Brantford Police and Brantford Fire services.

Councillors will hear from the police and fire departments as well as other outside agencies at the next estimates committee meeting on Dec. 1.

Plans call for the committee to meet again on Dec.10 to finalize recommendations to Mayor Kevin Davis. The mayor will release his budget on Jan. 9, 2026 and on Jan. 16, the estimates committee will meet again to give councillors an opportunity to amend or propose changes.

The budget is expected to be confirmed at a Jan. 26 special meeting of city council.

Vball@postmedia.com

@EXPVBall

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