It’s far too early to say for certain whether you’ll pay more or less municipal taxes in 2017, or how much more or less you’ll pay.
In accepting city administration’s budget direction on Monday, city council approved a starting point whereby the city will spend 5.4 per cent more in tax-supported revenue in 2017 than it spent in 2016.
Administration has been tasked with finding $1.8 million in savings through its operations division. That $1.8 million is equal to one per cent of the tax-supported spending increase.
That leaves 4.4 per cent more spending than 2016, which is the starting point for the tax levy.
A 4.4 per cent tax levy does not mean your taxes will increase 4.4 per cent. Whether or not your taxes will increase depends on both the value of your home and whether its value is increasing or decreasing.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) has assigned new values to all properties in the province for 2017. In Thunder Bay, average property assessments will increase 5.6 per cent next year.
The median local property assessment will increase from $188,000 in 2016 to $199,000 in 2017. That median home paid a tax bill of $3,245 in 2016.
The median home value of $199,000 with the average 5.6 per cent assessment increase would mean a $133 annual tax increase based on 2016 tax rates. For the average household, it would mean a $70 tax increase for every $100,000 of property value.
The budget direction council passed on Monday isn’t binding, meaning both the levy and the proposed $1.8 million in operations reductions are subject to change over the next four months of council deliberations and consultations.
Once final figures are passed and ratified, council will set the tax rate and ratio. That process sets rates for the eight different property classes while the ratio decides what share each of those property classes will contribute to the overall tax pool.
Opportunities for public engagement in the budget continue with a pre-budget deputation meeting on Nov. 1. A proposed budget will be available to the public on Jan. 23, 2017 and council will welcome more deputations on Jan. 31. Council will review the budget from Feb. 2 to 15 and final approval is scheduled to fall on Feb. 21.
