All LED street lights, new firefighters prompt $40 tax increase
Vaughan's portion of the property tax bill will rise, despite large reserve fund

YorkRegion.com
Dec. 16, 2016
Adam Martin-Robbins  

The average Vaughan homeowner will see a $40 jump in the city’s portion of their property tax bill next year.

City council, Tuesday night (Dec. 12), approved a 2.9 per cent property tax hike to support its $391-million budget for 2017.

The tax increase goes, in part, to pay for 41 new full-time employees, including six firefighters, an intergovernmental relations specialist and a manager of community engagement.

A small portion also goes toward the city’s $114-million capital spending plan, which includes about $16.5 million to convert streetlights city-wide to LED technology, $5.9 million to improve transit, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure plus $2.5 million for tree replacement.

The tax bump brings the city’s portion of the property tax bill to $1,428 for the average homeowner with a house valued at $667,000.

On top of that is the $56 Vaughan hospital levy, plus taxes paid to the Region of York, projected to rise by $72 for the average Vaughan homeowner as well as the portion paid to the province for education.

“I always remind people that the city only receives 28 per cent of the total residential property tax bill, it’s important to understand that because we try to do the best we can with, relatively speaking, not a lot of money,” Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said.

“What is really interesting about this budget is that it reinforces our dedication to fiscal responsibility and often it’s not outlined as much as it should be, but it also includes $3.3 million in savings while committing around $260 million to 369 new projects that will contribute to city building and our growth requirements for the future.”

Not everyone shared the mayor’s view of the 2017 budget.

City hall watcher Richard Lorello questioned the need for a nearly 3 per cent hike when the city holds almost $535 million in reserve funds, a sizable portion of which is mandatory, but a “large chunk of which is discretionary.”.

“I, somewhat, compare this to the federal government announcing a huge budget surplus and then the day after, they announce a tax increase to the taxpayers in Canada, which would simply be unacceptable from a federal viewpoint. Yet here, taxpayers are asked to accept a property tax increase while at the same time seeing the city sitting on some fairly large cash reserves,” Lorello said.

 “Year after year this happens. Year after year we hear no more than 3 per cent (increase in property taxes). It’s becoming like an annual holiday gift. Here’s the gift to Vaughan taxpayers, another 3 per cent (hike) or very close to it.”

Lorello, once again, called for Vaughan to put in place an independent auditor general, similar to those at the provincial and federal level, to determine if taxpayers are “getting value for money.”

“One of those new 41 positions should be an independent auditor general,” he said. “Just recently we witnessed how effective the auditor general at the provincial and federal level actually are — reporting wasteful government spending on public works projects, inefficient government programs — municipal taxpayers would be better served with such a position locally.”