Local residents will certainly be digging deeper into their pockets to pay property taxes next year.
The Town’s budget committee - composed of all members of Halton Hills Council - spent two days combing over the municipality’s planned expenditures for 2024.
After a couple changes that ultimately reduced the proposed tax hike by .01 per cent, the committee approved a Town operating budget of almost $70 million Tuesday evening with a resulting 9.04 tax increase for next year. The document will go before council next week for final approval.
As it stands, the increase will equate to an additional $36.64 per $100,000 of the assessed value of your home.
For example, if your home is currently assessed at $500,000, this will be a $183.20 tax increase on the town portion of your bill next year.
In addition to the Town, local residents pay taxes to Halton Region, which is proposing a 5.1 per cent tax hike for regional and police services next year, and the school boards, which are looking at a 0 per cent increase.
After combining the Town, Region and school boards together, Halton Hills residents can expect to pay an additional $51.64 per $100,000 of the assessed value of their home in 2024, or an overall 6.06 per cent increase.
New healthcare levy introduced
The Town budget includes a 0.78 per cent increase to the Town’s ‘state of good repair’ special levy for local infrastructure.
The budget committee also approved a new 0.25 per cent dedicated healthcare levy, which aims to start setting money aside in a reserve fund now for expected requests to financially support future projects like a new Georgetown Hospital, long-term care facility and hospice.
Some councillors expressed their enthusiasm about bolstering local healthcare initiatives with the levy, like Clark Somerville and Jason Brass.
“I think we need to start getting our ducks in a row and planning for the future, for when the (new hospital) plan is flushed out and ready to go,” said Somerville, who also acknowledged that it’s a “difficult and tough budget year” to be doing so.
But Councillor Joseph Racinsky - who expressed concern throughout the meeting about the size of the budget and put forth several recommendations for cuts - voiced his opposition to the special levy.
“This (healthcare levy) is important for our town, but if we want to do important things like this, we’re going to have to take a far more critical look at our existing budget as a town,” he said.
According to Town treasurer Moya Leighton, some of the challenges facing the 2024 operating budget include the current economic environment and inflation, lower revenues from development charges, limited assessment growth and additional responsibilities that have been downloaded from other levels of government to the Town.
Other budget drivers include:
- Compensation – An additional $2.6 million needed to address the total cost increase for salaries and benefits of current Town staff.
- Insurance premiums – With an estimated 15 per cent insurance premium increase on the horizon, an additional $318,000 has been included in the operating budget.
- Cybersecurity – An additional $240,000 required to protect the Town’s assets and operations in the face of increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity threats, including technology enhancements and an additional staff member.
The committee also approved a $26-million capital budget, which is funded through reserves, grants from other levels of government, development charges, general/special levies and recoveries from other municipalities.
The Town of Halton Hills collects property taxes on behalf of Halton Region and the school boards. This means that the taxes paid by property owners get split, with approximately 51 per cent going to the Region and school boards and 49 per cent going to the Town.
