County portion of tax bill rising 2% for Collingwood homeowners

Increase works out to $5.58 per $100,000 of MPAC assessment

The county passed its 2020 budget at its council meeting on Tuesday morning, and that means a two per cent tax increase next year.

The 2020 County of Simcoe draft budget was presented to county council back in November, outlining how the county intends to spend its $530 million budget in 2019.

The budget was officially passed without discussion on Wednesday morning.

The proposed tax increase for taxpayers across the county is two per cent, which works out to an increase of $5.58 per $100,000 of MPAC assessment.

Barrie and Orillia residents do not pay taxes at the county level, as they are separated cities. Instead, the municipality allots a specific amount in their own budget to pay for the use of some county services.

For the separated City of Barrie, their contribution to use some county services (Long Term Care & Seniors Services, Paramedic Services, Children and Community Services, Ontario Works, Social Housing Non-Profit, Simcoe County Housing Corporation, the county museum and archives) comes with a price tag of $21 million for 2020, an increase of 10.1% over 2019 budget numbers.

For the separated City of Orillia, their contribution to use county services (Long Term Care and Seniors Services, Paramedic Services, Children and Community Services, Ontario Works, Social Housing Non-Profit and the Simcoe County Housing Corporation) will come with a price tag of $6.5 million for 2020, an increase of 12.7% over 2019.

In January 2020, the county will officially increase its ownership shares in the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport from 20 per cent to 90 per cent, and act on the long-term strategic plan to grow and expand the airport as a critical economic development asset for the entire region.

For our full story on the county budget, click here.