Puslinch council has okayed a 12.1% increase in township taxes.
At their last meeting in?May councillors voted unanimously to pass the township’s tax rate bylaw, as well as the 2010 budget, which includes $7,283,976 in total expenditures and $4,407,849 in total revenue.
Those figures are up 26.6% and 28% respectively, from $5,754,910 and $3,443,449 in 2009.
The 2010 budget requires $2,876,127 to be raised through taxes, up 24.4% over last year ($2,311,461).
However, due to increased assessment across the township – Clerk Brenda Law said there was a 10% increase over 2009 – the actual impact on residents will be closer to 12%.
Law explained that overall operating expenditures are relatively the same this year as in 2009, but increased capital expenditures such as the new multi-use recreational facility (MURF) in Aberfoyle resulted in a bigger budget.
The actual size of individual tax increases for Puslinch residents will depend on the assessment from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). The average phased-in assessment increase is expected to be about 9.8% this year.
That means the average homeowner with a residence assessed at $365,000 will pay $741 in township taxes and $4,202 in total taxes. The same home would have been valued at about $332,000 last year, with the owner paying about $602 in township taxes and around $3,870 in total taxes.
Mayor Brad Whitcombe said during a recent budget meeting councillors “wrestled down” figures from original estimates.
“All our wishes are there for a very reasonable cost,” Whitcombe said of the 2010 budget.
When asked about the size of the increase this year, he stressed the township is offering the same level of services as usual, while also ensuring major road projects are completed, as well as other “ongoing initiatives.”
In particular, the MURF accounts for a large portion of the 2010 budget increase, but the mayor said he considers that a “modest” expense and a great investment for the community, considering the township is paying for less than one third of the entire cost for a building that should serve the community for 50 years.
This year, the township’s portion of the overall tax bill is about 18%, while 61% goes to the county and 21% goes to the education portion.
Major expenses this year include:
– $15,000 for this fall’s municipal election;
– $25,000 for ongoing dredging work at Puslinch Lake;
– $30,000 for a new truck for the building department;
– $95,000 for road work on the 4th Concession;
– $102,024 for a new storage shed for the roads department;
– $129,242 in conservation authority levies ($102,294 to Grand River, $17,154 to Halton, and $9,794 to Hamilton);
– $180,000 for truck and plow equipment for the roads department;
– $220,000 for reconstruction of the 2nd Concession;
– $310,500 in capital expenditures for the fire department, including a new tanker ($250,000), a rescue boat, defibrillator, SCBA, radios, and computer software;
– $490,000 to rebuild 10th Sideroad and Ellis Road; and
– $1.92-million for the MURF in Aberfoyle (with $1,432,656 coming from the federal and provincial governments).
