File photo by Alec Ross, BlackburnNews.comFile photo by Alec Ross, BlackburnNews.com
London

2.7% tax hike proposed for 2019

London homeowners are looking at a smaller than expected tax increase next year.

City councillors got their first look at the 2019 budget update on Monday night. The draft update, the final one in the multi-year budgeting process undertaken by the previous council, proposes a 2.7 per cent increase in property taxes. That's down from the 2.8 percent that was approved for 2018. It's also a decrease from the 3.2 percent hike that was anticipated for 2019.

The average homeowner, with a home assessed at $221,000 in 2015, would see their tax bill go up by $74.

“The 2019 Budget Update is the final milestone in the 2016-2019 Multi-Year Budget process – the city’s first multi-year budget,” said Anna Lisa Barbon, the city’s managing director of Corporate Services and city treasurer, chief financial officer. “The 2019 Budget Update delivers a reduction to the average annual property tax levy increase approved by Council at the outset of 2016-2019 Multi-Year Budget process, while also providing the remaining funding required to implement council’s 2015-2019 Strategic Plan.”

The budget update includes 12 amendments, with seven coming from the operating budget and five from the capital budget. Ten amendments were also presented in the Water and Wastewater budget. However, the impact of the Water and Wastewater budget remains unchanged at three per cent.

Council is expected to approve the budget update on February 12.

Londoners will get a chance to learn more or speak out about the budget at an open house on Wednesday, January 9 at BMO Centre at 296 Rectory St. and at a public participation meeting in council chambers on Thursday, January 17.

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