It looks like a $45 jump in the annual tax bill for rate payers in Amherstburg this year as council got an update on the town's financial picture with the 2017 proposed budget tabled.
The tax bill increase is based on the average home price in the town of $191,000.
Councillors were taken through the draft, at a special meeting on Monday night, which includes a 1.99% increase on the municipal tax base from 2016.
"I think that's a very reasonable recommendation," says Aldo DiCarlo, the mayor for Amherstburg. "If we don't try to at least keep up with inflation, our infrastructure deficit gaps are just going to keep getting bigger and bigger."
DiCarlo feels most residents will see the proposed increase as reasonable.
"They say they love what they have here and they are prepared to accept reasonable increases to maintain the amenities that we have here," says DiCarlo.
The 2017 proposed budget includes more than $5.6-million more in capital spending compared to last year with Meloche Rd. being considered as a top priority project. Last year the town spent just over $2.6-million on capital projects.
The proposed budget also would grow the staff contingent at town hall with hires recommended including a new part-time planner, part-time committee coordinator and a new director of parks and recreation. There are also a couple of positions that would be made full-time if the budget were approved in its current form.
Amherstburg CAO John Miceli highlighted what he called a major success of the current council in cutting the town's debt to a projected $39-million by the end of the year.
In 2013 the debt was upwards of $51-million.
The 2017 budget is the first tied to Amherstburg's new strategic plan which has a 10-year projection that targets increasing the town's reserves to $20-million while reducing the town's debt to $32-million.
"We've adapted a different process than we've had here before," says Justin Rousseau, director of corporate services and treasure for the town. "More public input, more collaborative effort and I'm really proud to present a budget that's more collaborative than before."
The proposed budget will now go through administrative consultation and review before a public information and input session scheduled for November 26.
Budget deliberations are planned for the week of November 29 before a potential budget adoption on December 12.