York Region taxes going up an average of $64 this year
Yorkregion.com
Feb. 27, 2015
By Lisa Queen
The average household will see the regional portion of its property tax bill jump more than $60 this year after York Region council approved the budget Thursday.
But your tax hike may be higher or lower than that, depending on where you live.
Council approved a 2.97-per-cent tax increase, meaning that for an average house assessed at $515,000, the regional portion of the tax bill will climb $64.
That doesn’t include your local municipal and school board taxes.
Due to differences in the assessed values of properties across the region, your regional tax bill may be more or less than the regional average.
If you live in Georgina, East Gwillimbury, Newmarket, Whitchurch-Stouffville or Aurora, your regional tax increase is more likely to be lower than the regional average.
In King Township, Richmond Hill and Vaughan, your regional tax hike will likely be higher than the average.
And in Markham, the typical household will pay exactly the regional average of $64 more, bringing its total regional tax bill to $2,224.
In Georgina, the average household will see its regional taxes increase $35, bringing the total regional portion of the property bill to $1,221.
The average Newmarket household’s regional taxes will climb $50 to a total of $1,730 and the average household in East Gwillimbury will see its regional taxes boosted $52 to a total of $1,813.
The regional tax increase on the average household in Aurora squeaks in at just under the regional average at $63, for a total of $2,186.
Whitchurch-Stouffville is right behind, with the average household paying $62 more in regional taxes this year, for a total regional tax bill of $2,159.
The average household in King will have the largest tax increase at $76, bringing the regional portion of the tax bill to $2,630.
The next highest is Vaughan, where the average household’s regional taxes will increase $70, for a total regional tax bill of $2,417.
Richmond Hill is close behind, with this year’s tax hike of $69 on the average household bringing the regional portion of the tax bill to $2,405.
This year’s budget includes $1.9 billion for operating costs and $826 million for capital projects, such as roads, regional treasurer Bill Hughes said.
Highlights include:
- hiring 129 new police officers and 51 police civilian staff over the next four years, including
- recruiting 33 officers and 13 civilian staff this year;
- implementing a new part-time police cadet program;
- hiring 95 emergency medical services (EMS) staff over four years, including hiring 20 paramedics to service high-call volume areas and converting 23 paramedics from casual to permanent this year;
- boosting mental health services;
- opening a state-of-the-art transit facility in Richmond Hill this year;
- funding the region’s contribution to a proposed Markham university campus; and
- constructing 126 kilometres of roads, including urbanization of existing rural roads.
The region is investing $5.82 billion into capital projects during the next 10 years, which is more than other regions, such as Peel, Waterloo, Durham, Hamilton and Halton, Hughes said.
This is the first time the region has adopted a four-year budget plan.
While council could make changes in any or all of the next three years during budget discussions, at the moment it looks like the regional portion of your property tax bill will increase 2.85 per cent next year, 2.69 per cent in 2017 and 2.35 per cent in 2018.
