Kingston, Ont. property taxes set to rise after 2023 budget revealed

It was a long three nights of discussion but members of council in Kingston, Ont., have put together the budget for the new year.

One cause of the difficulty was the suggestion by Coun. Paul Chaves to hire more firefighters, saying the department has not kept up with the growth of the city.

“Nothing’s been done within the fire department either with new fire stations or complement of firefighters in the last twenty years,” he said.

After much debate, council agreed to bring on more firefighters – a move that will increase the property tax to 3.35 per cent.

That number made Mayor Bryan Paterson uncomfortable.

“Basically the argument that I was putting on the table is to say maybe this isn’t the year given the extra pressure we’re seeing on homeless supports.”

1:49 Prescott, Ont. fire leaves over a dozen people homeless

That pressure to fund the homeless support programs itself is because the provincial government no longer offering funding.

While Chaves understood the trepidation, he believes expanding the fire department staff is a necessary change for the safety of the community.

“We don’t know who will benefit from this … it could be myself, it could be yourself, it could be your neighbour.”

While the property tax increase puts Kingston over three per cent for the first time in years, Paterson says it will still leave the city with one of the lower tax rates in the province.