Proposed capital budget calls for $30 hike to average tax bill
Council is mulling a proposed $236-million capital budget that would add about $30 to the average homeowner’s tax bill next year.
The capital budget includes cash spent on specific construction projects like bridge and road reconstruction, equipment or vehicle replacements and other one-time expenditures.
The total bill for homeowners depends on capital, rate and operating budgets — council decisions that won’t be finalized until early next year.
There is extra money proposed next year for housing ($11 million), roads, bridges and sidewalks ($5 million) and downtown entertainment facilities ($6.8 million).
The city also needs to tap taxpayers for extra cash to help pay for new buses and other transit improvements under a federal grant program that requires a municipal contribution. Hamilton is slated to receive 18 new HSR buses in 2018.
There may also be questions from councillors coming on what is not included in the proposed 2018 budget.
For example, council would need to shift priorities and dollars around to speed up proposed bike lane construction on the Claremont Access, where cyclist Jay Keddy died in 2015.
Councillors will chew on the numbers presented Friday and will debate potential changes over the next two or three weeks, with the goal of approving a capital budget before the end of December.