TORONTO, June 15, 2026 – Richmond Hill’s online survey for the 2026 budget will close on June 15. The city says the 2026 budget will affect services residents use every day, including garbage collection, snow clearing, fire services, roads, parks, libraries, community centres, water, wastewater and stormwater management. Residents who do not submit feedback before the deadline can still follow the later budget process, but this round of online survey participation ends today.
The message is practically relevant to Chinese homeowners, tenants, small businesses and families who regularly use community facilities in Richmond Hill. Many people only pay attention to the municipal budget when property taxes rise, roads develop potholes, community centre fees increase or snow clearing is delayed in winter. But the budget determines how resources are allocated, which projects are prioritized, and which facilities are repaired or upgraded.
City information explains that the annual budget is divided into an operating budget and a capital budget. The operating budget supports daily services such as fire protection, snow clearing, garbage collection, park maintenance, and water, wastewater and stormwater systems. The capital budget is used for long-term infrastructure such as road resurfacing, community centre maintenance, and park construction or renewal. In other words, the budget does not only affect homeowners’ tax bills. It also affects tenants, small businesses, seniors, students and families who use public facilities.
For Chinese newcomer families, one of the easiest things to overlook is that a municipal budget survey does not necessarily only ask whether taxes should go up. Residents can often raise very specific issues from daily life, such as which road is frequently congested, which area has slow snow clearing, whether library hours are sufficient, whether community centre programs are affordable, whether park facilities are aging, or whether certain roads flood during rain.
The city says the 2026 budget will also take into account economic pressures such as tariffs and the rising cost of living. Submitting feedback does not mean a service will definitely be expanded or a fee will definitely not increase. The budget still needs to go through council review and balancing. However, if residents do not participate at all, it becomes harder for the city to understand the actual service experience of different communities, language groups and income levels.
A common situation is that residents complain every year that “taxes keep getting more expensive,” but do not realize they can express priorities early in the budget process. Tenants may also assume the budget has nothing to do with them, but roads, libraries, community centres, garbage services and water costs all affect their cost of living indirectly.
Richmond Hill residents who want to submit feedback should complete the survey before it closes on June 15. Residents who are not comfortable with English can ask family members, neighbours or community organizations for help. The feedback does not need to be complicated. It is enough to explain the area where they live, the services they use most often, and the issues they most want the city to prioritize.（LJI by Yuanyuan）
