WELLINGTON ‒ Although county taxpayers should brace for significant tax levy increases in 2024, CAO Scott Wilson believes the situation could have been much worse.
During a roads committee meeting Tuesday morning, CAO Scott Wilson said the proposed 2024 tax levy increase will not surpass six per cent and residents and councillors should focus on "what we were able to accomplish in the last year."
"In years gone by, (anything close to six per cent) would have been terrible but look around at what other municipalities are facing," said Wilson, during the meeting. "(Six per cent) isn't so bad when you take into consideration the rampant increase in construction and inflation."
County tax levy increases have varied over the last five years, with 2019, 2020 and 2023 seeing levy increases of 2.8 per cent, 3.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent.
While 2021 had the lowest levy increase with 1.2 per cent, 2022 showed a return to pre-COVID-19 levels with a two per cent increase.
"As we know, budgets only grow," said Wilson. "This is what we need- we don't have a wish list, we're responding to what councillors and committees tell us."
While Wilson said county council will have a good idea of "where we're going in terms of an increase" by the end of November, staff will confirm the total amount in January.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program
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