Tax hike for a rainy day

MAKING THE TOUGH DECISIONS: Vaughan council elected to raise residential property taxes 2.95 percent. The move was to ensure infrastructure projects have enough money to cover operating costs according to budget chief Alan Shefman.

Vaughan residents will be paying more in property taxes this year.

While that may not be the news most homeowners want to hear, they can take solace in knowing the city is trying to save for a rainy day.

Council is poised to approve this year’s budget with a 2.95-percent residential tax hike. The figure was cut from 4.6 percent at the budget’s launch in November.

Regional councillor Gino Rosati said he would have preferred no tax hike, but acknowledged it is unrealistic given the budget pressures of a rapidly growing municipality like Vaughan.

“There are always things that come our way,” he said. “There are more requirements we have to meet. That means more cost in order to meet those requirements.”

Infrastructure projects, of which there are several in this year’s budget, are mostly funded through development charges but, as budget chief Alan Shefman points out, the real cost is in operating those facilities once built.

“Ultimately, when we build these wonderful facilities we also have to support them going forward,” the Thornhill councillor said.

So does this mean residents will be stuck with an ever-growing tax bill as Vaughan continues to build parks, fire halls and community centres?

The opposite is happening, Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said. The city is saving so generations to come can afford to live here.

“We’re driven by a very important contingency approach to budget-making,” Bevilacqua says, noting the average municipality in Ontario has reserves of $835 per capita while Vaughan has about $2,000.

“The reason I insist that we continue to put money aside for the future, is because one day we will have to repair and rebuild some of these roads,” he said.

Keeping an election promise, Bevilacqua also conducted a program review, a line-by-line approach to finding service efficiencies.

Vaughan also now conducts multi-year budgeting in anticipation of future pressures like new facilities.

“It’s ensuring we’re doing that in the right way and starting to plan for the ultimate replacement of those assets at the same time,” says Barb Cribbett, Vaughan’s city treasurer.

“It’s a maturing city. We have a new kind of urban development taking place that will be new for the city of Vaughan.”

The result is a tight rein on the purse strings.

But Vaughan will dig deep this year for, among other things, land acquisition for the relocation of a fire station.

The budget is to be finalized at a special council meeting this month.