Thunder Bay property taxpayers can start celebrating the end of a major tax on the city as a $25 million contribution to the new Regional Hospital will be completely paid off, as of Saturday.
The hospital was built at a cost of nearly $300-million, $25 million of which came from city taxpayers who voted in favour of the contribution in a plebiscite held in 1997. A debenture loan was approved by city council in March of 2000 and the city has been paying $3.5 million for the past 10 years to pay off that debenture. City manager Tim Commisso said this is an important milestone.
Now that the annual payments have come to an end, the city now has an extra $3.5 million in its budget for 2011. Commisso said he's not making any recommendations to city council at this point. When the budget deliberations begin, he said council will have to choose whether to reduce taxes or use that money for other projects.
Meanwhile, the final two installments for city property taxes are due on Aug. 16 and Oct. 5.
