Tecumseh residents will likely have to dig a little deeper in their pockets when their 2020 tax bill arrives.
Council was presented with the draft budget Tuesday night which calls for a 3.1% tax hike.
The municipal portion is 0.4%, but when you factor in the county and education levies -- it works out to a 3.1% tax hike.
Mayor Gary McNamara is calling it a very lean budget but the town was able to use increasing home values to keep the increase down.
"When we look at the new assessment, there's a 14% increase in value of properties. We, basically, lower the tax rate to compensate because what we're looking at is the actual dollars we need to operate within the next year."
McNamara says a major focus remains on flood reducing including $2.9-million earmarked for sewer upgrades along the Tecumseh Rd. corridor.
"Every year we're spending a lot of money. We've certainly felt the wrath of Mother Nature in 2011, 2016 and 2017. Although we've seen the lake levels drop, we're not out of the woods. We've got a winter to go through and look at the amount of snow we've gotten already."
Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara talks about fluoridation after a council meeting on April 9, 2019 (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
He says, despite the increase, a recent survey shows 85% of residents are happy with where their tax dollars are going.
"The one thing that I stress is that 80% of all the services, two thirds of all the infrastructure is owned or delivered by the municipality and we do that on 9-cent dollars. So 9% of all tax dollars collected between the federal, provincial and municipality, we only get 9-cents and we have to deliver all of that."
The 3.1% increase amounts to $123 on a home valued at $250,000.
Budget deliberations begin November 19 with a goal of having the final budget approved at council’s December 10 meeting.