For the first time, Sarnia's mayor is vetoing amendments passed during city council's budget deliberations.
Mike Bradley issued a letter on Friday outlining his reasoning to reject funding for a new police headquarters and the Sarnia BACE project included in the 2026 proposed budget.
During the November 25 deliberations, council voted 5-4 in favour of adding $5 million to the police budget to be funded through borrowing.
Council also voted 7-2 to finance $4.1 million in 2026 to support a proposed health and community complex on Michigan Avenue, with the understanding that city staff would investigate the Sarnia BACE project.
Bradley called it a "motherhood statement" as council didn't give specific direction on what should be investigated.
"The zoning hasn't even been dealt with, which is a huge issue, it needs to be rezoned. We're already hearing from neighbours concerned about the traffic and all the other things," Bradley said.
While he supports the group proposing the project, Bradley said council has a responsibility to fully understand it before it's approved for financing. He also noted in his letter that the $10 million funding request (in total) was not presented to council until the November 17 public input session and was much more than the initial $3 million estimate.
In regard to the proposed police facility, Bradley said the $5 million is a starting point that would create tax pressure for the next 25 years. The cost for a new police facility is currently estimated at $91 million.
With affordability being a major concern, Bradley said he didn't want to pile on debt for the incoming council since a 16 per cent increase is projected for the 2027 budget.
"What I'm trying to do is bunker down, position the city to get through this coming year," Bradley said.
The letter voiced disappointment in council for supporting the prospect of borrowing money for new projects when there's still a long list of unfunded projects, including:
- Strangway Community Centre improvements - $200,000
- Pat Stapleton Arena improvements - $10 million over three years
- Canatara Park improvements - $6 million over two years
- Norm Perry Park improvements - $7.7 million over two years
- Waterfront Master Plan projects - $30 million over eight years
While Bradley said he still has concerns about the Bright's Grove Library Hub project, he will not veto council's amendment. However, he will bring forward a notice of motion during the December 15 council meeting to address some of his concerns.
"What I'm saying to council is you need to bring some control to this," Bradley said. "You need to put a cap on the project, you need to get some other information -- like the servicing cost for that piece of land and that project before you borrow any money."
This 2026 budget process was the first time Bradley exercised the use of strong mayor powers, granted by the Ontario government -- something he initially said wasn't needed.
Bradley said the last two budgets were reasonable but this one was different.
"The strong mayor's budget focused the debate. We dealt with the big issues and we didn't get into the trivial," he said. "So it's not hypocrisy. What it is is recognizing the city right now is in a crisis that council has helped create with taking on debt and projects right now."
Bradley said he expects there to be some pushback.
Council can choose to override the mayor's vetoes with a six-vote majority within 15 days after the December 5 deadline.
