Regional staff suggest 2.5 per cent increase
By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express
After being asked to take another look at the 2020 budget property tax guidelines, regional staff have come back with a more concrete number.
Speaking to the finance and administration committee, commissioner of finance Nancy Taylor and chief administrative officer Elaine Baxter-Trahair proposed a property tax increase of 2.5 per cent.
For the average resident, this would equate to an increase of $68 on their property tax bill next year.
The new proposal was made after council asked staff to go back and come up with a firm number.
Staff had previously proposed a two per cent property tax increase, with leeway of up to. 75 per cent due to potential downloading from the provincial government.
But council did not like the uncertainty of the guideline, and referred the matter back to staff.
The new guideline was met with a more positive reaction from the committee.
“I like this, this is good. It gives a lot of good information,” said Ajax Mayor Shaun Collier on the presentation.
But Collier wondered if there will be any increase to the region’s reserve funds in 2020.
“There is no planned increase in reserves through this budget process,” explained Taylor. “There is contributions that go into the reserves for roads, and those draws come annually out of the reserves for roads and bridges.”
Collier wasn’t the only committee member with concerns, as Scugog Mayor Bobbie Drew wanted assurance there will be no cuts now due to provincial downloading.
“At a 2.5 [per cent] guideline we’re looking at funding the services that are currently provided, and then as the province [provides more information] and if clarity comes through in 2020, we will absorb that, whether it has to be draws on reserve funds or throughout the year,” explained Taylor.
Drew believes cuts will be made over the next couple of years as the province downloads more onto municipalities.
“So the big decisions may be next year. If there are further cuts, we may have to be looking at cutting services [to achieve savings] or raising taxes,” said Drew. “I think it needs to be very well communicated why at that time.”
Oshawa’s Ward 4 city and regional councillor Rick Kerr was also looking for clarity, as he noted Durham Regional Police Services has been given approval to increase its budget by 3.2 per cent under the new guideline, and conservation authorities are being allowed a 2.5 increase.
He wondered what the primary needs of both groups are.
“[The police] have a number of major things… they have a number of similar challenges to what we do with respect to fixed costs around staffing and benefits…, as well as their vehicles, and things that they deal with their maintenance on,” explained Taylor.
She also noted DRPS has requested additional front-line officers to deal with growth in the region.
“So, we’re looking primarily at growth factors, because as a region we are growing, and we need a larger police service to provide the same level of services we’ve become accustomed to,” Kerr surmised.
In regards to conservation authorities, in particular the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority, Kerr wondered if their budget increases are due to flood mitigation, climate change, and various other reasons.
However, Taylor notes conservation authorities are facing uncertainty due to provincial cuts, and are in a “holding pattern.”
“As you might be familiar with, the province is changing a lot of things on the landscape of conservation authorities as well,” explained Taylor. “So they’re awaiting regulations. There’s a lot of work that may have to be done around their core versus non-core [services].”
Taylor also noted the approved budget increase for conservation authorities is the same as last year.
The property tax guideline now heads to regional council for approval on Nov. 27.