Newmarket council approves property tax hike just under 2%

Council sets aside $100,000 to help businesses during COVID-19 pandemic

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 17

Newmarket residents and business owners will see the town portion of their property tax bill climb by almost two per cent in 2021.

Council approved a 1.98 per cent tax increase at the Dec. 14 council meeting.

That works out to an additional $42.86 for the year, or $3.57 a month, on the average single-family home assessed at $700,000.

There will also be a hike of $49.44 on the average water and wastewater bill next year, which works out to $4.12 a month, and an increase of $4.21 for the stormwater charge, which works out to 35 cents a month.

The tax increase is about one percentage point lower than the 2.99 per cent hike the town had been considering, with councillors saying they recognize the financial pressures people are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It has been an extremely challenging year for Newmarket residents and businesses and during these unprecedented times,” Mayor John Taylor said.

“We have strived to find the balance between managing the financial impacts of COVID-19, while continuing to plan for the future of our community.”

Of the 1.98 per cent tax increase, there is a slim 0.17 per cent increase to the base budget, Taylor said.

Another 0.8 per cent is going toward the COVID-19 contingency fund and one per cent is slated for the asset replacement fund.

Highlights from the 2021 budget include:

• Construction of Newmarket’s first outdoor skate park

• A new Central York Fire Services fire station and a new fleet of fire trucks

• Completion of the Mulock Property master plan

• Trail and field lighting enhancements and fleet replacement

• Municipal infrastructure and road resurfacing

• Improvements for bridges and culverts

• Traffic safety initiatives

• New park developments

Through the budget process, the town was able to find $800,000 in savings and identified an additional $200,000 savings from the administrative and service delivery review (Rev it Up), for a total savings of $1 million.

The town continues to strive to keep its tax rate about 10 per cent lower than the municipal average in the Greater Toronto Area, Taylor said.

Residents who participated in an online budget survey said they wanted the town to maintain current service levels and to provide more support for businesses during the pandemic, the town said in a statement.

As a result of the feedback, the town is spending $100,000 to help local businesses, twice as much as originally proposed.

Council also created a contingency fund to ensure the town is able to maintain service levels during emergencies such as the pandemic.

Ensuring all services levels are maintained was the No. 1 priority for the majority of residents who participated in budget survey, the town said.

“A special thank you to the community for your engagement in the budget process,” Taylor said.

“We will continue to work together to ensure that Newmarket remains one of the best places in Canada to live and raise a family.”