Cambridge homeowners to pay $51 more a year in city property taxes

Cambridge city council has voted in favour of a property tax hike of 1.34per cent this year, which will add $51 to the average homeowner's tax bill.

Water rates are also on the rise after council approved a water utility increase of 3.4 per cent, about $39 a year.

Councillors trimmed some items from the budget. The draft budget had called for an increase of 4.05 per cent, about $55.11 per household.

In a release, Mayor Kathryn McGarry says the budget shows the city wants to invest in future growth while still keeping taxpayers in mind.

Some of the budget items highlighted by the city includes:

• $50.9 million for capital investment, including roads, recreation facilities and parks.
• $20 million under the business plan for the core areas transformation fund for the three core areas in the city Galt, Hespeler and Preston.
• $204,000 for new multi-use trails.
• $200,000 for traffic calming.
• More work on projects such as the Fountain Street Soccer Park, the Cambridge Recreation Complex and the Preston Auditorium expansion.

"Our 2020 budget focuses on meeting the evolving needs and expectations [of] our residents and dedicates targeted resources to our collective goals and priorities," she said.

Consider the whole tax bill, councillor says

Coun. Mike Mann, who also serves as the chair of the budget and audit committee, says the goal of budget deliberations was to find efficiencies.

But in an interview on CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition, he also noted people need to understand how their tax bill works.

"For every dollar that you pay in taxes, 36 cents go to running the city, 50 cents goes to the region and 14 cents goes to education," Mann said.

"So when you look at the tax bill, I think it's important to look at it in its entirety and say, the taxes are expensive, but we get services from the city, we get services from the region and we provide education to our children."

Mann said in the past, the city had a few years where councillors decided there wouldn't be any tax increases.

"Some people would say that was a great thing. Some people would say maybe it's good to have a little tax increase, even when you have those affluent years, so that you can put a little something in the bank," he said.

"I would love to see us at a point where we don't have to have a tax increase. Myself, I don't foresee that happening."