Budget deliberations in Essex begin later this afternoon (4:30pm). It's the first time council will tackle the 2017 draft budget.
Deputy Mayor Richard Meloche says the increase currently stands around 20%. He says the projected increase includes a lot of "wish list items" from town departments. Meloche says council will look at the lists and begin to chop items.
"We got to go through it a little bit to try and pair it down but it looks like it's somewhere around 20% increase right now, so obviously it's the first go and there's a lot of items on the list that are wish list items."
Meloche believes Essex residents will see a tax increase.
Essex Deputy Mayor Richard Meloche (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
"We're trying to keep it within inflation or their abouts our increase so I can't imagine that at the high level that you'll probably see about a 2% increase at the most."
Meloche says road improvements along with improved playground equipment and increased funding to the town's fire department are all listed in the draft budget.
Last year, Essex residents saw a mill rate increase of 1.5%