CITY COUNCILLOR
LILY CHENG
WILLOWDALE WARD 18

The Mayor’s Budget passed at our Special City Council meeting with very few amendments. You can CLICK HERE to read more about the local and city-wide investments included this year, but I want to highlight a few new wins that happened this month that directly benefit Willowdale. The Mayor provided: $35,000 to address the shortfall facing the Yonge North York BIA in organizing our long-standing Canada Day celebration at Mel Lastman Square . This support ensures the event ca

Mayor Chow released her proposed 2026 City Budget on February 1, 2026. You can review the budget Here .  The Mayor’s budget outlines how much the City plans to spend and how it plans to pay for those costs, including revenues from property taxes and user fees. City Council may propose amendments to the Mayor’s budget, but Council does not vote to formally adopt the budget or a “budget as amended.” Any changes to spending or revenues, including property taxes, must be proposed

Today, we capped off a multi-week Budget Committee journey  by presenting a set of recommendations to the Mayor, who will release her version of the Budget on February 1 . I am grateful to all Willowdale residents  who stayed engaged—from the initial consultation at Memorial Hall, to the Willowdale Youth Council information session with deputation training, to our Virtual Budget Town Hall (see photo below) and this week’s Budget Deputation Meetings, where we heard a wide rang

Thank you to everyone who joined our virtual town hall on Toronto’s proposed 2026 City Budget. Residents shared thoughtful questions and feedback on affordability, growth pressures in Willowdale, community safety, housing, youth programs, and climate action. Below, you will find more information on our discussion, along with links to the presentation and budget notes. Budget Priorities Mayor Olivia Chow emphasized a focus on affordability, service stability, and maintaining f

On Tues. Jan 20 and Wed. Jan 21, I attended the Public Deputations on the 2026 City Budget to hear Torontonians input. Here's what we heard: Residents repeatedly emphasized that Toronto’s public health, mental health, and social services are under severe strain . Frontline workers and community members described staffing shortages, burnout, wage disparities, and retention challenges that are limiting access to preventive care, Indigenous health programs, sexual health service

The City’s 2026 staff-proposed budget was released today, kicking off a multi-stage process before the final budget is adopted on February 10 . This is the stage where residents can review the proposed investments, ask questions, and share ideas before decisions are finalized. Click Here to see our CFO's presentation on this budget. For more information on the process, please visit: www.toronto.ca/budget You may have heard that the proposed property tax increase is significa