Council approves 2019 budget, Peterborough property taxes above provincial average

After more than 18 hours of meetings spread across four days of budget deliberations, Peterborough city council has finally approved its 2019 budget.

City hall will spend $282 million in this upcoming year. Overall, it works out to a 2.5 per cent all-inclusive tax hike, in line with budget increases over the past few years which have been between two and three per cent increases.

“That 2.5 per cent was the guideline,” said town ward councillor and finance chair Dean Pappas. “We actually did make some cuts but then we actually made some enhancements and so we ended up back at the 2.5.”

Some of those enhancements or budget additions included a boost in funding for Peterborough Public Health, after the health agency sought an 8.3 per cent increase to its budget from the city, to make up for a funding shortfall from the province.

In the past, the province has funded 75 per cent of the Peterborough Public Health budget while the city, county and First Nations communities made up the remaining 25 per cent. The province, however, shifted its funding model, cutting it down to 70 per cent and leaving the municipalities and First Nations communities in Curve Lake and Hiawatha to fund the other 30 per cent.

Within that all-inclusive tax hike, homeowners can expect to pay more than last year as the property tax increased by 3.2 per cent.

WATCH: Peterborough draft budget proposes 2.5% all inclusive tax increase

2:39 Peterborough draft budget proposes 2.5% all inclusive tax increase

This is in line with the city’s Tax Ratio Reduction program that was introduced eight years ago and was extended again into 2019, with intentions to keep commercial, industrial and multi-residential tax ratios low.

In 2018, the average property taxes for a detached bungalow in Peterborough amounted to $3,842, which is above the provincial average. Municipalities of similar size, meanwhile, like Sault Ste. Marie, came in slightly lower at $2,943, while Belleville residents paid $3,494 in property taxes.

According to Coun. Pappas, the goal of getting the commercial and industrial taxes in check is to attract businesses to set up shop here in the city, meaning a greater tax burden falls on the shoulders of residents.

— With files by CHEX News intern Noor Ibrahim