Wellington North residents will likely be looking at a 2.47% increase to their tax bills this year.
CAO Mike Givens presented the proposed 2016 budget, which outlines a one per cent increase to the operating budget and a $7-million capital spending program, at a public meeting on Feb. 18.
Of the $15.2 million total budget, the township is looking to raise $6.75 million through taxes.
That represents an increase of about four per cent over last year, but growth in assessment brings the tax levy impact down to about 2.74%.
“I want to be very transparent about the fact that we’re asking taxpayers to come up with four per cent more dollars in 2016, but that isn’t going to impact the existing taxpayer to four per cent because we have growth,” said Mayor Andy Lennox.
“This is one of the benefits of growth, it allows us to be more efficient, deliver the same services, for less impact on the taxpayers.”
The increase is average across the board, but for some land owners, a larger increase is expected.
Farm increase higher
For an average single family home valued at $227,000, taxes are going up by 2.1%, but for an average farm property valued at $518,000 the tax increase is 10.55%. An average industrial property ($1.1 million) will see a 5.27% increase.
“We’ve had a shift in the different values of properties; farmland has gone up relative to residential properties so farmland is bearing a larger proportion of the burden than residential. It’s because farmland values have grown significantly over the years,” explained Lennox.
Operating highlights
Part of the operating budget includes a new $2,000 employee wellness program that will be implemented in 2016.
“We want to promote wellness and health amongst our staff so we are going to establish a committee and staff are going to look for ways to promote wellness amongst staff and that’s what that $2,000 is going to be geared towards,” said Givens.
The presentation also included the Louise Marshall Hospital renovation special levy, which is $250,000 each year from 2015 to 2018 and is raised through tax dollars. Givens said that is considered in budget discussions.
“Although (the levy) does not have a direct impact on the budget, we recognize as a staff and council that it does impact our rate payers,” he said.
The township will also see an increase of $4,065 from all three conservation authorities.
Capital highlights
Givens called the $7-million capital spending program “aggressive” and “something that council has geared us towards is focusing on trying to deal with the capital deficit that we know exists within our municipality.”
The Kenilworth administration office will see $263,500 for accessibility upgrades and an installation of a back-up generator.
The Rick Hopkins Bridge, a $1.5 million project, received funding from federal and provincial governments, so the township’s portion is about $500,000.
The township is using federal gas tax money to fund three other local bridge construction projects, including two on Sideroad 13 and Concession 8.
Numerous streets are slated for construction this year, totaling over $4 million.
“We are increasing taxes but we are taking that money to put towards those capital projects that are going to keep our roads, buildings and those things in good shape for the future,” said Lennox.
Givens also wanted to note the township was not incurring any more debt for 2016.
“We have some debt capacity but we also recognize there are some significant capital projects that are coming forward … so we are trying to insure that we have debt capacity to deal with those types of projects,” he said.
The budget will come back to council for consideration sometime in March.
