Budget and Taxes
City Budget
City Council approved the 2009 Operating Budget and the 2009-2011 Capital Budget on December 10, 2008.
Your property taxes are used to help pay for the services and infrastructure in these budgets. Because the budget increased, the revenue needed from property taxes increased by an average of 5.3% for operations and 2% earmarked specifically for the neighbourhood renewal program.
Your Tax Bill Comes in May
The City sends your property value assessment notice in January to help you estimate your taxes. Your tax notice is sent in late May and tax payment is due by June 30. Your final tax bill is mainly determined by the size of the City budget, but it is also affected by the Provincial Education Tax announced in March/April, any local improvement charges for your neighbourhood or street, and how your property value assessment changed in comparison to the average change.
Impact on Typical Household
The value of your home is used to determine your share of the total property taxes the City needs for services and infrastructure. The average increase in property taxes is 7.3%, which includes all property types (i.e. commercial, industrial, and residential).
For residential properties, the tax increase is less because households no longer pay for garbage services with taxes; this is paid entirely through user fees. Therefore, the average municipal tax increase for houses is 3.6%. For a house valued at $400,000 last year, that's an increase of about $51.
