UPDATED: Small tax increase for Vaughan draws little criticism

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 19, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

Tennis court reconstruction in Torii Park, baseball diamond lights in Sonoma Heights, a new resource library beside city hall and firefighters at Station 7-5 in Woodbridge - those are just a handful of items the city plans to spend money on this year.

And to help cover the cost of at least some of those things, your property taxes are going up 2.5 per cent. That works out to about $31 for the average homeowner, with a house valued at $551,000.

Factoring in the Region of York levy, the provincial education portion and the $60 hospital levy brings the average homeowner’s total 2014 tax bill to $4,662, up $65 from $4,597 last year.

“The budget process is a challenging exercise every year and this committee and city staff take it seriously,” Maple/Kleinburg Councillor Marilyn Iafrate, chairperson of the budget committee, said during Tuesday night’s final 2014 budget meeting. “Vaughan has been a well-managed city and we continue to demonstrate financial leadership and discipline by ensuring residents receive value for their property tax dollars.”

Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua echoed those comments.

“It’s not every day that we get to deliver a budget that ranks as one of the lowest (tax increases), over a three-year span, in the Greater Toronto Area,” he said. “It’s not an easy feat while maintaining service excellence. It’s a hard balance to achieve and we’re able to do it.”

About 10 residents attended the meeting - and a few of them spoke out.

Guido Masutti said he believes such a tax increase is unnecessary.

“I can see many places where the same services can be maintained without spending that much money,” the 76-year-old Woodbridge resident said. “It looks to me like you’re looking to spend more money than trying to save it. And that’s not what the father of a family would do.”

Jeffrey Stone questioned, among other things, whether city staff salaries are in line with their counterparts in comparable municipalities.

“At one point, you’ve got to wonder how well we should be remunerating them,” the Thornhill resident said.