Ratepayers in the Municipality of Grey Highlands are potentially facing a whopping tax increase in 2024.
Grey Highlands council received its first glimpse of the draft 2024 budget at an all-day committee of the whole meeting on Dec. 5 and the numbers were grim.
The draft 2024 budget forecasts a 12.6 per cent ($1.78-million) increase to the local tax rate. This would amount to an $85 annual increase for every $100,000 of assessed value of a residential property.
The total budget proposed is $25.8 million. Of that amount $16.3 million is for operating and $9.4 million is for capital. If approved, a total of $16.1 million would be raised through the local property tax levy.
Anna McCarthy, the municipality’s director of finance/treasurer, presented the draft budget to council and included a report that broke down the 12.37-per-cent increase.
Three areas of the budget accounted for the vast majority of the proposed increase: reversal of one-time funding used in 2023 ($320,459 or 2.3%), capital projects ($888,985 or 6.3%) and debt repayments ($409,614 or 2.9%) for a total of 11.5 per cent.
General operational increases (insurance, wages, fuel, library, etc) made up just 3.1 per cent of the increase or $443,250.
When combined, the proposed increases total 14.6 per cent. That total is offset by revenue from assessment growth. Grey Highlands is expecting real tax assessment growth of two per cent or $284,593 in 2024, which pushed the 14.6 per cent increase down to 12.6 per cent.
“The majority of the budget impacts are capital,” McCarthy told council.
Mayor Paul McQueen noted that financial decisions made to lower the tax impact in the 2023 budget had now caught up to the municipality. Last year, council approved the usage of reserve funds to lessen the projected tax increase. That reserve revenue must now be added to the tax levy, which resulted in the 2.3 per cent increase for the reversal of one-time funding.
“A decision made last year is affecting this year,” said Mayor Paul McQueen. “The budget last year was supported by reserves.”
McQueen’s reaction to the budget was immediate. He said it is too high and council will have to make cuts.
“I certainly can’t support a 14.6 per cent budget,” said Mayor Paul McQueen. “There’s going to have to be some choices.”
The mayor argued it was time for Grey Highlands to look at its base budget/service levels and perhaps make changes.
“There are choices that have to be made. There are a lot of things we can cut,” he said. “There comes a point that we have to look at what our base budget is, we’re doing it at the county.”
Council made one significant budget reduction during the meeting. They voted to deny a request from the library for $74,250 for replacement of shelves at the Markdale branch. This decision saves approximately 0.5 per cent on projected increase.
The next committee of the whole meeting on the budget will be held on Dec. 12, 2024. The municipality is also planning a survey of local residents to gauge their feelings on the proposed budget. The survey results will be reported to council after the Christmas break. All the budget documents are available on the agenda for the meeting here.
