Newmarket eyes 2.99% tax increase in 2024, adding $72 to average homeowner's bill

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 20, 2023
Lisa Queen

Newmarket property owners are facing an almost three per cent increase on the town portion of their property taxes.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Council is expected to pass a 2.99 per cent increase at its Dec. 11 meeting.
• The proposed increase would add $72 a year to the tax bills for the average homeowner, with an assessed value of $709,000.
• That would mean the average homeowner’s Newmarket tax bill would increase to $2,478 in 2024.
• The property tax bill consists of the town, Region of York and education portions.
• With the average regional portion of the property tax bill at $2,566 and the school board portion at just under $1,085, the average Newmarket homeowner’s total property tax bill in 2024 would be $6,129.
• The region’s tax increase in 2024 is 3.75 per cent and there is no school board increase.
• There are no service increases or cuts proposed in Newmarket’s 2024 budget.
• There would be an average 3.7 per cent increase in service fees and charges next year. The town froze those fees in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic and is now looking to play catch up.
• Every one per cent tax increase adds $700,000 to the town’s coffers for the year.
• Mayor John Taylor is calling the proposed tax increase “reasonable” in light of inflation and said he expects some other municipalities to have higher tax hikes.
• He also warned future budgets will be challenging in the face of inflation and unknown impacts from the provincial’s government’s Bill 23, also known as the More Homes Built Faster Act.
• The town’s budget pays for a number of services such as local roads, the Newmarket Public Library, recreation programs and the town’s portion of Central York Fire Services.