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Oakville Town Council approves 2.79 per cent increase to town portion of tax bill

Roofing a residential bungalow | GreggMP  -  Foter  -  CC BY-ND
Roofing a residential bungalow | GreggMP - Foter - CC BY-ND

Oakville Town Council meets its commitment to keep the total property tax increase in line with inflation, as they unanimously approved a 2.79 per cent increase to the town’s portion of the tax bill. That decision has ensured that the overall property tax increase for Oakville residents is 1.7 per cent. For residential property owners property taxes will increase by $14.88 per $100,000 of assessment, meaning a home assessed at $400,000 would pay an additional $59.52 per year or $1.14 per week.

Town Councillors also approved that the overall property tax increases for 2016-2018 be in line with inflation.

The town's budget increase of 2.79% is broken down into two sections. 1.63 percent goes to programs and staff, the other 1.16 percent goes to infrastructure.

As one of the rare municipalities in Canada Oakville is funding 100% of the depreciation of its infrastructure. This dedication towards infrastructure funding started in the 1990's. As infrastructure funding reaches a break even point, the increases to property taxes required should eventually be part of the overall budget.

An example of this would start when you replace the shingles on your home. You spend $5,000.00 to install 30 year shingles. Well each year, technically you should put aside $167.00 in order to ensure that you can replace those shingles in 30 years. In the town's case they are spending $167.00 every year on renewing infrastructure, so that there isn't a unexpected cost which can not be covered to replace that roof.

The approved $461 million combined budget for the town’s operating and capital requirements provides over 60 wide ranging programs and services including winter road maintenance, parks and trails, harbours, transit, emergency services, recreation and culture, senior services, libraries, and ensures that the town’s roads and other infrastructure is in a state of good repair. Some of the top capital projects in this year’s budget are:

  • $7.1 million for road resurfacing and preservation
  • $5.9 million for reconstruction of the Rebecca Street Bridge
  • $5.3 million for reconstruction of Sixth Line north of Dundas Street
  • $3.9 million for the town’s Emerald Ash Borer Management Program
  • $2.9 million for the replacement of old Oakville Transit buses
  • $2 million for improvements to portions of the North Service Road
  • $1.8 million for Bronte Harbour dredging
  • $1.8 million for improvements to Speers Road
  • $1.7 million for west shore landscape rehabilitation at Sixteen Mile Creek
  • $1.7 million to replace aging roads and works equipment
  • $975,000 for design and preliminary work towards the rehabilitation of Oakville Arena

“We are investing in our infrastructure by renewing it at the same rate that it depreciates, and maintaining the high quality programs and services our residents want,” Budget Chair Councillor Tom Adams said. “We have kept our promise to keep tax increases in line with inflation and our overall 1.7 per cent increase is lower than the increases of our neighbouring municipalities, including Toronto. This is a responsible and proactive budget and I’m extremely proud of the hard work that went into it.”

For more details on the 2015 Budget visit oakville.ca.


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