This year’s tax levy rate is 6.97 per cent, down from last year’s 7.6 per cent.
On Monday night, after months of deliberating in committee, Stratford City Council passed the 2023 budget, tipping the scales at $73,024,514.
One amendment was put forward and approved during council, a reduction of $18,288 from Huron-Perth Public Health. That brought the total tax levy rate slightly down from 6.99 per cent, as it was approved at committee, to 6.97 per cent.
At the last finance and labour relations committee meeting, Coun. Cody Sebben opposed the budget’s approval, saying that council should be more diligent in its endeavour to ease the burden on taxpayers.
The budget passed Monday with all in favour except Coun. Sebben.
A tax levy of 6.97 per cent does not mean that property taxes will rise that amount. After being applied to different property types, the tax rate is expected to increase 4.66 per cent for residential homes.
Property taxes are based on the Current Value Assessment (CVA) of a property, prepared by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). Due to the COVID pandemic, MPAC postponed the 2020 assessment update, meaning taxes for this year are determined by the 2016 assessment.
That means for a home valued at $350,000 (the average assessed value of a home in 2016), the increase is $234 annually or $19.50 per month compared to 2022.
