St. Catharines residents will soon see a 10.51% jump in tax bills
Property tax bills in St. Catharines are about to face a jump.
During last night's meeting, council approved a 10.51 percent increase, or, for a home valued at $255,905, that's roughly $400 more per year.
Councillors say while the vast majority of the increase is from the Region, the City does share some of the blame.
Councillor Carlos Garcia spoke to this. "We had an approximate 14 million dollar windfall by uploading the transit budget to the region so our operating budget increase is really way higher than has been shown when you take that windfall into account."
Meanwhile, Councillor Greg Miller says the City could find savings by cutting back on police funding.
"Forty percent of all property taxes in Niagara go to one place - the Niagara regional police. That is significantly higher than places like York and Durham. So, if someone wants to look for cost savings I would start with that 170 million dollars which again is significantly higher than the city's entire budget."
He also said council passed a very sensible budget.
Councillor Jackie Lindal urged taxpayers to contact the region. "They have put us as a city council in an untenable position, and we're going to be the ones that have to explain why their [taxpayers] taxes went up 10%. And the region is the one you have to talk to, but nine times out of ten, they're not going to care, because their tax bill is way too high."
Councillor Joe Kushner was against voting for this budget increase, pointing not only to inflation, but housing problems. "By raising taxes by 10%, we're making home ownership less affordable, and we're making rent less affordable, because taxes impact both the owners and the renters."
He made a motion to revisit the city budget to reduce costs, but that was voted down.
Council voted 7 to 6 in favour of passing the budget.
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