This is a discretionary budget allocated to each Councillor to pay for expenses that are allowable under the Members of Council Operations Policy.
This budget is adjusted annually by the previous year’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Toronto.
Councillors must not exceed their annual Constituency Services and Office Budget limit, whether using City funds or personal funds. If they exceed the Constituency Services and Office Budget limit using City funds, they must repay the City using personal funds.
Exceptions to reporting use of personal funds include: kilometrage, parking, wireless devices and business meals. These expenses are not counted towards the annual Constituency Services and Office Budget limit. See Members of Council Operations Policy Section 4, Using Personal Funds, Furniture and Equipment, for further details.
Members who pay for office expenses with personal funds are subject to the same accountability mechanisms and must file all receipts with the City Clerk’s Office, Member Services and Program Support on a monthly basis with the exception of kilometrage, parking, wireless devices and business meals.
Section 7 of the Members of Council Operations Policy outlines the categories and types of allowable expenses payable from the Councillor’s Constituency Services and Office Budget.
In a municipal election year, the Constituency Services and Office Budget is a pro-rated amount of the approved budget based on number of months or partial months in each term of office, with the provision that subsequent to election day: Re-elected Councillors have available to them the balance of funds remaining as of Election Day, except for years when there are changes to ward boundaries, where the pro-rated amounts for both terms applies to all Councillors.