Council approves special fund to help residents with rising property taxes, among other solutions
City of St. Catharines approving the creation of a new fund to help residents with rising taxes, in particular the recent 10% property tax hike.
During city council meeting last night, the Tax Mitigation Fund was discussed, for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Mayor Mat Siscoe says the goal is to implement strategies to enhance the budget process and find ways to reduce the impact of the budget on taxpayers.
He added they are trying to work alongside the region's budget. "The rest of the region can't wait while the Region of Niagara tries to decide how much money it wants to spend. They should probably just do the hard work like everyone else does and get their budget complete on time."
One potential mitigation effort is the Older Adults Tax Increase Deferral program, which has yet to be adopted by council.
City staff will also keep track of job postings available to residents that were budgeted, but the city continues to have struggles filling those jobs.
A motion by Councillors Joe Kushner and Carlos Garcia was also passed, in that 2% of money in the Operating Budget and Civic Project Fund be moved to the Special Tax Mitigation Fund, and that city staff produce a report on how significant funds can be found and put into the new Mitigation fund.
City council also heard from a number of residents who spoke their minds on the proposals.
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