By Pepper Parr
October 31st, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Tax increases are about numbers and your money.
City Council has begun the process of determining how much money it will spend and what the tax rate will be.
There are two numbers floating around.
8.3%
7.5%
Both are not yet official – yet to be determined by Council
The 8.3% is the percentage the budget (which is the money being spent) will increase over last year.
The 7.5% number is the increase in the amount of tax you will pay over last year – in other words your tax will increase by that 7.5% number
Why the difference?
Most of the city income is from the taxes they levy on property.
The number of properties that can be taxed is higher this year; a lot of new housing is now being occupied and can be taxed. That new tax money from the new properties is what has lowered the tax rate you will be expected to pay.
Not clear yet? Read it again.
I just looked up a few studies that corroborate that: cost of living increases (exacerbated by property tax and rent increases) have a direct correlation to increased crime rates. It is no coincidence that both have increased at approximately the same time in Burlington. Solve the cost of living issues and you will improve crime rates and reduce food bank visits. I vote for reducing the tax increase to less than 2% (inflation rate is forecast at 1.85% for 2025) and I do NOT vote for street art, street parties, Mayor speakers series, Mayor Marketing and media expenses, funding charities that should be self funded and paying for City Hall renovations … to name a few…
I agree with all of your comments.
Residents are tired of all of our City Council’s excessive over spending on all of their Wants! And then billing it all back to Burlington Property Tax Payers to pay for it.
Enough is enough. Tax Payers are already at a Breaking point. Stop the madness!
These numbers are as unclear as the arguments in the budget for growth. By the budget documents, assessment growth in Burlington was only 0.7% last year, far lower than Oakville and Milton.
The BMA Management Consulting Study of 2023 paints the picture of low population growth in the City relative to Oakville and Milton and also an increasing reliance on residential assessment relative to non-residential assessment.
All of this, including the proposed property tax increase relative to inflation means that the residents of Burlington will have less disposable income and housing affordability here is deteriorating. In other words, more increases at the food banks.