Get ready for your municipal taxes to go up.
Chatham-Kent council has approved the 2017 budget, which includes a 1.96% tax increase.
Councillor Derek Robertson, who also served as the budget chair, says most of the increase is earmarked for infrastructure spending.
"There's a real, burgeoning need -- certainly we heard it loud and clear from the citizens," says Robertson. "I commend councillor Bryon Fluker for his efforts in leading the charge to ensure that we provide some protection to our agri-business industry."
Robertson says he's happy with how the process went this year, giving special credit to municipal staff for coming up with a plan that didn't include any significant cuts -- and to council members for working together.
"For the most part, we're driven toward a fairly common goal," says Robertson. "Because of that, we were able to land in what I think is the right place and we were able to do that in an efficient manner."
And while this year's budget wrapped up quicker than most -- after just two nights of deliberations -- Robertson thinks they also laid a solid base for next year's talks.
"I'm never one to predict what will happen from year to year," says Robertson. "However, I think that we took some responsible steps that will likely make the process a little bit easier."