‘Drivers’ steer possible tax hike

Public invited to give input on Cambridge’s 2018 budget

CAMBRIDGE — So city taxes in Cambridge are poised to go up for an 18th straight year.

A hike of 5.78 per cent, the starting point for 2018 budget deliberations, would jack up the average household tax bill by $80. You want the full interactive explanation?

Go to Hespeler Arena Monday (Nov. 13) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. for the third and weather-rescheduled final stop of the city’s annual budget road show, after visits to Galt and Preston last week.

Go ahead. Twitch and moan and ask city officials why taxes will almost surely rise again.

“I think it’s important to tell people why,” said Coun. Mike Mann, the chair of city council’s budget task force. “Here are the drivers.” Yes, the drivers. They pump the ever-inflating tires of tax increases.

“You’ve got collective agreements — two collective agreements — that were settled,” explained Mann, a retired deputy police chief. “Those were certainly a driver.”

Salary increases and collective deals always play a part in tax hikes, Mann said.

You’ll recall last February’s labour disruptions in the shadow of Groundhog Day.

City inside and outside workers launched separate strikes just six days apart. A pair of new four-year agreements that followed the strikes now help steer the bottom line of city’s $125-million operating-budget upwards.

“And then you’ve got the new Cambridge Fire Station — station No. 6,” Mann said. “And the library. Those are the two main drivers.”

Yes, the new $13.5-million Idea Exchange digital library in the renovated old Galt post office building is to open as summer arrives. It will need staff. So will the new fire station to open come fall at Boxwood Drive and Maple Grove Road.

Twenty new firefighters will be added over time.

About 2.49 per cent of the potential tax increase is related to fire services, including the opening of the new station and wage increases for fire personnel, the city says.

Then add in the anticipated 3.33 per cent rise in water and wastewater rates for 2018. The typical household can expect to pay about $35 more in user fees next year.

So, taxes and water fees combined, that’s a $115 hike facing the average household.

But don’t despair, the budget numbers are just a starting point for debate.

Mann’s budget task force meets Nov. 27, and likely again on Nov. 30, before recommendations go to city council on Dec. 11.

Spending trims will surely be found. Didn’t last year’s proposed tax hike start at seven per cent? By the time councillors finished their work, it was down to 3.51 per cent.

“I’m not happy with 5.78,” Mann said. “I would love to see it under five per cent and I’m determined we can get there.”