Newmarket residents will likely see their taxes rise by 5.5 per cent, after a couple of percentage points were shaved off during budget talks.
Town staff had brought down the initially proposed 7.63 per cent increase through some efficiencies like stretching out playground replacement. Council voted March 20 to tentatively progress with a 5.5 per cent figure, which would be a $159 increase for the tax bill on a home assessed at $900,000.
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said this was a very difficult budgeting process.
“I hope, when I retire, this was the most difficult budget I encountered,” he said. “We found, I believe, a balance between incredible pressures, protecting service levels, not pushing the impact onto future taxpayers."
Staff has pinned the higher-than-usual increase on inflationary pressures, with a 30-per cent increase in the construction price index and a 10.7 per cent consumer price index increase over the pandemic.
Manager of finance and accounting Andrea Tang said the process started at a 13 per cent increase based on inflation, brought down to 7.67 per cent through measures like deferring enhancements and the capital inflation supplement. Bringing it down to 5.5 per cent involved more gaps on staff turnover, reducing janitorial services at the town office and stretching out playground replacements.
“The town is not alone in this. All municipalities face this (inflation), as well,” Tang said. “Despite these challenges, the town is committed to finding the right balance between community needs and also fiscal responsibility.”
“We do not like raising taxes — the exact opposite," Taylor said. "But if we’re going to run a responsible organization, provide high levels of services to people and not push off onto the next generation … it’s a really reasonable balance we’ve landed.
Part of the reduction will come from stretching out playground repairs by three to five years, but commissioner of community services Jeff Payne said playgrounds are lasting longer.
“New material of those play structures has a much better lifecycle,” he said. “We’re going to better manage the implementation of new structures.”
Staff only got as far as a 5.99 per cent increase tentatively, with $337,000 more to find to get to 5.5. But staff said they would look for revenue opportunities and efficiencies throughout the year to get to 5.5 per cent, reporting back at the 2024 budget.
After the reduction, councillors noted Newmarket is in line with neighbouring municipalities, such as Stouffville (9.04 per cent), Georgina (6.89 per cent), East Gwillimbury (5.55 per cent) and Aurora (3.5 per cent).
Councillor Kelly Broome said residents have said they do not want fewer services.
“They want more, and they want us to find efficiencies, and I feel that is what staff has done,” she said.
Council also asked staff to aim for three per cent or lower tax rate increases for the rest of the council term.
The draft budget must still be presented to council committee of the whole next week, with final approval of the budget expected to come in early April.
