Like many others across Southwestern Ontario, taxpayers in Woodstock will have to dig deeper this year after city council signed off on a budget that will hike property taxes by 7.42 per cent.
WOODSTOCK – Like many others across Southwestern Ontario, taxpayers in Woodstock will have to dig deeper this year after city council signed off on a budget that will hike property taxes by 7.42 per cent.
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In a 6-1 vote, Woodstock politicians passed the municipality’s 2024 budget at a meeting that lasted more than an hour longer than scheduled on Thursday night.
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“This has been a grueling few months of putting this budget together,” Mayor Jerry Acchione said in his closing remarks. “Yes, we’re going to make some tough decisions, but I hope you understand where they’re coming from.”
Woodstock – a city of about 46,000 people – initially had a municipal budget proposed at about $98 million. That would’ve increased taxes by 4.86 per cent, adding $135 to the average home – “average” being one assessed at $267,000.
But after politicians added new projects, the 2024 spending plan swelled to more than $107 million. That means a 7.42 per cent tax hike for local property owners, or $206 on the average home’s bill. It’s significantly larger than Woodstock’s 2023 tax hike of 4.32 per cent ($146 per average home).
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Woodstock’s 2024 tax hike is smaller than London’s 8.7 per cent but larger than several others across the region. For example, the similarly sized St. Thomas, a city of about 42,000, kept its hike at 2.95 per cent, adding $88 to an average home assessed at $204,000.
But not everyone on Woodstock city council supported the budget.
Coun. Deb Tait, the lone holdout, thought the tax hike was too hefty. She told The London Free Press after the meeting: “They’re going to flip out when they get their tax bill.”
Tait also cited the approval of a streetscape project to revitalize Woodstock’s downtown – a construction project to make upgrades such as adding new sidewalks and installing streetlights and furniture – as another reason she opposed the budget.
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“I can’t support a budget, any budget, that has the streetscape. . . . I can’t do it,” Tait said.
Council approved one phase of the project at a cost of $2.7 million at Thursday’s meeting. The entire project would cost $7.4 million, although council can vote at a future meeting whether to proceed.
City politicians on Thursday approved several last-minute budget additions, including hiring 17 full-time staff and converting three part-time positions to full-time ones, adding a total of $800,000 to the 2024 spending plan.
“(I’m) absolutely comfortable with the approval of the full-time equivalent staff,” Coun. Bernia Martin said following the meeting. “We’re growing exponentially as a city and many of our departments have not had new staff members added in decades.
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“Paying more tax means that we are delivering services to the people who need it most in this community.”
After the meeting, Mayor Acchione said he understands nobody likes to pay more in taxes.
“As a resident of the City of Woodstock myself, and (as) a taxpayer, I understand the tax burden is on everyone,” he said, adding that because Woodstock is “continuing to grow even more this year and next,” it’s paramount to add additional staff.
The approved budget also contains several new initiatives from city hall including additional public transit hours, new physician recruitment efforts and boosting reserve funds for bridge and road reconstruction along with street lighting to alleviate the tax hikes in future years.
“I’m really proud of this council, and looking at each one individually,” Acchione said.
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