Windsor City Council will consider a 2.19% hospital levy at tonight's council meeting.
The administration is recommending the levy for the next 12 years to raise the city's portion of the $200 million municipal contribution of the $2 billion hospital project. They are recommending adding the levy as soon as July. The average homeowner would see an increase of around $60 on their annual property tax bill.
"The earlier you start, the lower the levy is, and we have to be ready to have that levy available for payment, the bulk of it, by 2026," says City of Windsor CAO Onorio Colucci.
Colucci says the City and County of Essex administration worked together to come up with how the municipal contribution would be split.
"Based on the fact that hospitals are used by people it was agreed that we would recommend to our respective councils to split the costs based on population ratios," says Colucci.
The money raised through the levy will be put in a special reserve fund to be paid to the hospital when the bulk of the work is completed, projected to be in 2026.
Formal approval of the municipal funding is required for the project to proceed.