Stouffville council ponders five per cent tax hike

Town considers holding off building second pool for five to eight years: CAO

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 6, 2019
Lisa Queen

Whitchurch-Stouffville homeowners are facing a five per cent tax increase on the town’s portion of the property tax, a first look at the budget shows.

A preliminary view of the draft budget was presented at the Feb. 5 council meeting, with council scheduled to deliberate the town’s finances at a meeting on Feb. 26.

The town is considering boosting its operating budget by two per cent, bringing it to $71.1 million -- and increasing its capital budget by three per cent, bringing it to $17.8 million.

Meanwhile, the town continues to focus on reducing its $36 million debt, used to front-end costs such as water and sewer pipes to accommodate growth, CAO Roman Martiuk said.

Staff are suggesting holding off on servicing growth lands north of the Stouffville’s GO station, or telling developers that they will have to pay the costs up front if they want to build faster, he said.

This spring, the town will increase its development charges by about 50 per cent, Martiuk said.

Developers are charged the fees to pay for certain municipal services, and typically pass the costs on to new homebuyers in the price of their homes.

“The theme of this budget is living within our means,” Martiuk said.

At the same time, the proposed budget calls for hiring 10 new staff and making two part-time workers full-time, which would be largely funded by savings from a line-by-line budget review.

This year’s capital budget increase of three per cent matches the three per cent adopted last year, Martiuk said, adding that the town is looking to rein in its capital spending.

“We’ve been tackling some pretty thorny issues in the capital budget,” he said.

Capital expenses are “a huge problem for us," as there are more projects needed than the town has money to fund, Martiuk said.

Rather than borrowing to build a second pool in town in the short term, staff is recommending replenishing its reserve accounts and holding off building the pool for five to eight years, he said.

Capital projects expected to proceed this year include $3.2 million for road and sidewalk repairs, $1.9 million for new park and sports facilities and $830,000 for the Ballantrae fire station.