UPDATED: Richmond Hill residents pay $26 more in taxes; hike lower than last year

Richmond Hill Liberal
Feb. 24, 2014
By Kim Zarzour

You will pay more in property taxes this year, but not as much of an increase as in neighboring municipalities, and less of an increase than you paid last year.

Council approved a 2.04-per-cent increase for the 2014 operating budget at a special meeting Thursday. That amounts to an additional $26.46 in taxes on an average home assessed at $564,900. Last year’s increase was 2.5 per cent.

Three residents appealed in person for lower taxes and more cost-cutting by the town, but Dean Miller, commissioner of corporate and financial services, recommended the operating and waste and wastewater budgets - relying on $88 million in property taxes, 34 per cent of overall revenue - as the best way to maintain existing services, meet growth and minimize tax impact.

Four additional expenses were not accommodated in the 2014 budget: the ice storm clean-up, a provincially mandated increase to the minimum wage, postage increases and a potential over-run on winter maintenance cleanup which has been expensive this year, Mr. Miller said.

“I would ask everybody to pray for a very mild November and December,” he added, tongue in cheek.

Richmond Hill’s 2014 budget did not include ice storm costs under the assumption that the province may help out.

So far, the ice storm has cost the town $470,000 Mr. Miller said, but that figure is expected to rise.

The City of Markham has earmarked about $200,000 in its 2014 budget for the ice storm, which amounts to an additional .16 per cent tax increase.

Council voted to ask staff for a report back in three months on the matter of establishing policies for a disaster reserve.

Richmond Hill’s tax rate increase is lowest in comparison to similarly sized GTA municipalities - Oakville, Markham, Vaughan, Newmarket, Aurora and Burlington (some of which have not yet approved their rates) - but Councillors Greg Beros, Nick Papa and Carmine Perrelli pushed for a zero per cent increase, saying further cost savings could be found.

Mr. Beros suggested $3.1 million could be saved by forgoing part of the annual contribution to the town’s reserve account that is used to repair and replace existing assets. He was supported by Mr. Perrelli and Mr. Papa, but a majority on council voted against the idea, saying the reserve funds need to be available to pay for aging infrastructure and assets.

Resident Jon Priestly was one of three delegations who appealed for lower taxes.

Mr. Priestly said his taxes, along with others in his South Richvale neighbourhood, increased more than the town’s announced rate increases thanks to large increases by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

He called on councillors to disclose to the public all components of why taxes increase and to reduce the mill rate by 10.8 per cent, enough to negate most of the MPAC assessments increases and allow for a recovery of some of the 2013 increase.

However, Mr. Miller said not all homes have increased as much as those in Mr. Priestly’s neighbourhood. Overall, the town’s assessed value has increased 31.6 per cent in the past four years - with some properties in the southwest of town jumping by more than double that (describing, as an example, one home that increased in value from $1.4 million to $2.4 million). Other homes in Richmond Hill have not increased that much and for those households, the tax increase will be less than 2.04 per cent, he said.

Igor Bily criticized council for not providing line-by-line detail for expenditures, questioning the costs for such items as library floor refinishing and sidewalks along Elgin Mills Road.

He asked councillors to appoint a volunteer resident group for “random spot checking of 10 projects with the responsible managers” and volunteered to be part of that group.

Ted Schneider, who is a candidate for the Ward 4 councillor position in the fall election, suggested the town look more closely at ways to decrease costs. The Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, for example, could be better marketed so it breaks even, he suggested.

As part of the budget approval, councillors agreed to continue with the seniors tax assistance program for those 65 and older who own their own home at least one year and are in receipt of Federal Guaranteed Income Supplement. These residents will receive a grant of $331, up from last year’s $324.