Comment 88824

By Noted (anonymous) | Posted May 19, 2013 at 22:35:40 in reply to Comment 88823

April 15, 2011

After years of delays and disputes, councillors have agreed to update the city's controversial tax system.

But residents of the old city of Hamilton won't see any savings out of the deal.

City council voted Thursday to institute a new area rating system that includes a “special capital levy” for residents of the old city. That levy — which will amount to $3.4 million each year — will be spent on infrastructure updates in the old city alone.

The decision was lauded as a compromise that satisfies both urban and suburban councillors. The final vote at Thursday's budget meeting was unanimous and was met with a standing ovation from senior staff.

“I'm so proud of this group to have this kind of discussion at the end of this long and difficult road,” said Mayor Bob Bratina.

The new plan will apply to this year's property tax bills.

Staff first suggested updating the area rating system in 2009, to fix an unfair distribution of tax rates across the city. Because the outlying wards that amalgamated into the old city were not paying enough for the services they receive, they were scheduled to see a tax increase. Residents of the old city, who have been over-paying, were to see a dip in their tax rates.

Thursday's decision increases tax rates for the new areas of the city, as planned.

However, instead of using the increased tax revenue from new areas of the city to offer savings to residents of the old city, council decided to keep tax levels in the old city the same.

If the savings from area rating had been built into tax rates, urban areas would have seen a 0.3 per cent increase. Instead, rates are going up in the old city by 0.9 per cent.

In other words, council chose to increase tax rates in the old city by an average of $20 a year. The cash will be used to update roads, sewers and sidewalks in the old city.

“We've got a $195-million infrastructure deficit. A good chunk of that is in the former city of Hamilton, because it's older,” said Rob Rossini.

“What this does is actually kill two birds with one stone — you address the area rating issue, we put it behind us, and we've got some funding available to put toward our $195-million gap.”

The highest tax increases will be seen in urban areas of Glanbrook (3 per cent) and urban areas of Dundas (2.9 per cent). The only tax rates going down — by 0.6 per cent — are in rural areas of Ancaster.

Instead of taxing residents based on ward boundaries, the new plan taxes residents based on whether they live in an urban or rural area.

Culture-related charges will not be area rated, but recreation, fire, streetlights and sidewalks will be based on the urban/rural divide.

Several councillors said Thursday that the plan had been agreed on before the public meeting that day. As a result, councillors spent the majority of the budget meeting congratulating staff and their colleagues.

“The fact that we can support this motion here today dispels dysfunctionality around this table,” said Councillor Terry Whitehead. “We put the most divisive debate since amalgamation to bed. That's a credit to everyone around this table.”

“If it wasn't for these back hall discussions … I don't think we'd be at this point,” said Councillor Russ Powers, credited with brokering the deal along with Councillor Chad Collins. “It's not perfect but it's a workable document.”

///

How much will your taxes go up?

If you live in the urban area:

Hamilton – 0.9 per cent

Ancaster – 1.2 per cent

Stoney Creek – 2.4 per cent

Flamborough – 2.4 per cent

Dundas – 2.9 per cent

Glanbrook – 3 per cent

If you live in the rural area:

Hamilton – N/A

Ancaster – (minus) 0.6 per cent

Stoney Creek – 0.6 per cent

Flamborough – 0.5 per cent

Dundas – 1.1 per cent

Glanbrook – 1.2 per cent


http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2201523-area-rating-nobody-gets-a-break-/

Permalink | Context

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds