All signs are pointing to a significant increase in the municipal tax rate.
On Oct. 30, Burlington city staff presented an overall projected tax increase of 7.61 per cent based on the 2024 Financial Needs and Multi-Year Forecast. The increase would represent an extra $65.54 per $100,000 of the assessed value of a person’s residence.
The forecast presented by staff is a reference document to help the mayor and council with their upcoming budget deliberations. The final budget will likely be passed at a council meeting before the end of the year.
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward described this budget year as a real challenge for residents.
“These are not easy times. They are not easy decisions. And I do appreciate that what has been presented is a clear picture of the city’s needs, and it is now up to council to determine how quickly we are able to address those,” said Meed Ward.
The previous budget had a tax increase of 7.44 per cent. Following the passing of last year’s budget, the mayor characterized it as “year one of two years of difficulties.”
The mayor will formally present the proposed budget at the Nov. 2 meeting of council. It has a projected city tax bill impact of 4.99 per cent. When combined with the forecasted increase for Halton Region, the overall tax increase could be 6.33 per cent. If the mayor’s proposed 2024 budget is passed as is, that increase would represent an extra $54.50 of cost per $100,000 of the assessed value of a person’s residence.
City representatives have consistently defended the proposed tax increase as a necessity to maintain current service levels, address the costs of the COVID-19 pandemic, support investment in major community assets and account for inflation.
Ward 5 Coun. Paul Sharman, who is also the deputy mayor for strategy and budgets, described the upcoming budget as one that addresses long-standing problems.
“The house needs maintenance, and we have to undertake that. My general view of this budget is it’s not what we had anticipated last year. We were hoping that it would be a one-and-done and we would be returning to a relatively more normal tax rate increases for the rest of this term. I think we’re all kind of struggling with the fact that that’s not very possible,” said Sharman.
The proposed tax increase has generated some vocal opposition. Notably, Burlington resident Wendy Fletcher protested on the issue outside of city hall earlier this year. She was the only person to delegate at the Oct. 30 meeting.
She argues that the vast majority of residents are strongly against a significant tax increase. To support her statements, Fletcher has hosted online surveys and started a petition calling for the city to end its plans for a significant 2024 tax increase — as of Nov. 1 that petition had more than 1,500 signatures.
“Whether Mayor Meed Ward is going to heed the taxpayers and refuse to raise taxes or minimally keep them below three per cent remains to be seen. At some point, Mayor Meed Ward stopped listening to taxpayers,” said Fletcher during her delegation.
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