GUELPH/ERAMOSA – The Township of Guelph/Eramosa’s 2022 budget has been officially approved with a 2.34 per cent tax increase.
This works out to about an additional $30.49 on property tax bills for a home assessed at $500,000.
The township portion of property taxes makes up one part of three components, along with the County of Wellington and provincial education.
The County of Wellington's proposed tax increase sits around 2 per cent which is set to be finalized in January.
The $21.8 million budget was passed without much fanfare at a Monday afternoon meeting where the confirmatory budget bylaw was made official.
Highlights of the capital budget include a $1.2 million aerial truck for the fire department and numerous road resurfacing and reconstruction projects including Jones Baseline, Indian Trail, Milton Second Line, Blue Forest Drive, Promenade Road and Station Street.
Council also approved 2022 fees and charges which generally saw a 4.4 per cent increase, in line with the third quarter consumer price index inflation rate, across the board.
Municipal employees will also be getting a cost of living salary increase but councillor wages remain frozen as they were last year.
In an interview before the meeting, mayor Chris White said he’s happy they’re keeping the tax increase below inflation but noted they need to keep up with municipal services.
“You’ve got to maintain your services and you’ve got to keep up with your own inflation, so this year we’ve managed to keep that down again until we get a little more clarity or hopefully COVID winds down at some point,” White said.
“At the end of the day, we’re focusing on our core and our core is municipal services.”
