Stratford city council sets to vote on 7.73 per cent tax increase

The average homeowner in Stratford could pay more than $400 extra in property taxes this year if city council votes to accept a 7.73 per cent increase.

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“I think with this increase we’re really pushing those on fixed income – seniors, families and anyone else’s income that didn’t increase by (7.73) per cent – ​​we’re pushing them further,” Coun. Cody Sebben said at the latest budget meeting this week.

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Council entered the meeting with a proposed tax increase of below nine per cent and dropped it further by voting to make several cuts, the largest of which was deferring landfill post-closure contributions of $150,000. Council also voted to have staff outline the financial consequences of deferring the Erie Street parking lot project, which has already been pushed back eight years.

Staff estimated smaller, more immediate fixes would still cost at least $200,000.

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Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach voted against deferring the entire project and warned that pushing larger, more expensive projects down the road would become a greater issue.

“If we continue to underfund them, we’ll have a big problem in the future,” she said.

Council also passed a motion from Mayor Martin Ritsma to use $250,000 from the tax stabilization reserve fund to bring down the tax levy impact.

“I know we have some difficult decisions to make,” he said before the meeting. “(These are) decisions that will not only impact present residents and taxpayers but also future ratepayers as well.”

Council voted 9-2 in favor of sending the draft budget to city council for approval, with Ritsma and Sebben opposed.

Sebben spoke of struggling businesses, residents sacrificing their food budgets for household expenses and tenants facing stiff rent increases from their landlords.

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“I certainly appreciate the situation we’re in, and I know some increase is unavoidable,” he said. “While I do appreciate the efforts made, I truly feel we could do better.”

If the budget passes, it will bring to an end a contentious public process that started in December when a record 12.5 per cent tax hike was proposed.

“I really feel like we need to send this back,” Sebben said at the time. “Staff are the ones who know the departments and work on this full time all year. We can go through it here and see what we can find, and we can talk about some of the bigger items, but I think we really need to send this back.”

And that’s what happened, with the proposed increase dropping incrementally each meeting while a petition to repeal the initial number garnered more than 3,300 signatures from residents.

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“These tax hikes will hurt middle- and lower-income earners more than others, but even for high-income earners who may not notice the difference so much, we all deserve more responsible tax management,” said Rebecca Finch Gracey, a small business owner who started the petition. “The entire country has been tightening its belt and losing its shirt the past few years with all the economic challenges we have faced, and our governments at every level need to lead by example.”

Coun. Bonnie Henderson was reluctant in her support of the budget, which would see owners of homes assessed at $350,000 in 2016 paying $404.64 more in property tax.

“I’m really torn on this,” she said. “I’m pleased with what we’ve done, and I can’t see any other way, so I’m not in support of raising the tax but I have to be in support of this. We have to run the city.”

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