It’s that time of year when Town staff starts crunching budget numbers, and the figures that have been released so far indicate taxes may rise significantly for local residents in 2025.
According to the documents now posted on the Town’s Let’s Talk Halton Hills forum, the staff-recommended 2025 budget contains a proposed 10.86 per cent increase on the Town portion of the tax bill. This would equate to an additional $48.02 per $100,000 of the assessed value of your home for Town services.
This figure includes a 1.42 per cent increase in the ‘state of good repair’ levy for maintaining local infrastructure, and a new 0.9 per cent fire services levy to meet health and safety needs related to growth.
“The staff-recommended budget is focused on maintaining existing services, responding to legislative changes and delivering on council’s strategic plan,” said Halton Hills CAO Chris Mills.
The Town says rising construction costs, the higher cost of borrowing and downloading of services from the Province are among the challenges facing next year’s Town budget.
In addition to the Town, local residents pay taxes to Halton Region, which may raise taxes for its services by 3.6 per cent next year, and the school boards, which are forecasting a 0 per cent increase.
When you combine the Town, Region and school boards together, Halton Hills residents could be looking at an overall 6.56 per cent jump on their property tax bill in 2025, or an additional $58.88 per $100,000 of the assessed value of their home.
But these figures may be changing in the coming weeks.
The Town says as part of her ‘strong mayor’ powers, Mayor Ann Lawlor is required to bring forth a mayor’s budget for Halton Hills, which can include alterations to the staff-recommended budget.
The mayor’s budget - which is subject to council amendments, a mayoral veto and council override - will be tabled on November 4.
In the meantime, four councillor-led meetings will be held to give residents a chance to learn more about the staff-recommended budget.
The ward meetings are drop-in style between 6 and 8 p.m., with opening remarks at 6:15 p.m. Ward councillors and the mayor will be in attendance at the following events:
- Ward 1 Meeting: Tuesday, Oct. 22 in the Acton Arena's multi-purpose room, 415 Queen St. E.
- Ward 2 Meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 23 at Glen Williams Town Hall, 1 Prince St.
- Ward 3 Meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 30 at Hillsview Active Living Centre, 318 Guelph St., Georgetown
- Ward 4 Meeting: Tuesday, Oct. 29 in the Gellert Community Centre's Kinsmen Room, 10241 Eighth Line, Georgetown.
“Councillors and I want to speak one-on-one with residents and hear their thoughts on budget priorities,” said Lawlor.
“I hope that residents will read up on the budget at letstalkhaltonhills.ca, where they can also share their thoughts and then attend one of the ward meetings to speak with members of council.”
For further details, visit Let's Talk Halton Hills.
