Waterloo sees tax hike of 2.1 per cent

WATERLOO — Waterloo council will increase city taxes by 2.1 per cent in 2018, adding $27 to the annual taxes of an average home valued at $373,400.

The increase, approved Monday in a 6-1 vote, helps pay rising wages for city staff, including an increase to the Ontario minimum wage for part-timers and summer students.

It boosts parks and maintains funding for seniors’ programs. It helps prepare for a new east-side library branch expected to open in 2020 at the city’s RIM Park facility. It helps pay for other building and maintenance expenses.

“I think what we’re trying to do is run an effective and efficient government,” Mayor Dave Jaworsky said.

He cites higher spending on parks and trails, saying the public “also wants a nice community to live in, a place that looks good.”

Council had planned a tax increase of 2.4 per cent but the city has grown faster than expected, generating new property taxes.

Council’s latest tax hike brings the four-year tax increase to 8.3 per cent during the term of this council (2015-2018). This is well above consumer inflation which has averaged 1.6 per cent per year in the first three years of the term.

Council’s real four-year impact on a typical home is estimated at 13.2 per cent, including a fastrising fee to manage rain that was once part of city taxes. It’s the biggest tax-and-fee increase of the past three council terms, heading into the municipal election next fall.

It compares to an increase of seven per cent by the previous council (2011-2014) and 12.5 per cent by the council before (20072010).

“We have to make sure that we’re doing the proper maintenance,” Jaworsky said, citing a drainage fee that council has doubled this term to $128 for a typical home.

Extra spending to manage rain (council calls it stormwater) enables Waterloo to clean its drainage ponds more often and limit flooding. “Previously it wasn’t funded to the proper level,” Jawor-

sky said. Residents can earn rebates on the drainage fee by improving their property.

Coun. Mark Whaley opposed the budget to protest the province not spending more on seniors’ programs.

City hall is imposing aboveinflation increases on residents while Waterloo emerges from a lost decade that saw real household incomes shrink. Statistics Canada reports that Waterloo’s median household income fell 1.6 per cent below inflation between 2005 and 2015 while manufacturing tanked.

Jaworsky said council seeks to pay middling salaries to city employees. “We don’t want to be the highest-paying and we’re not going to be the lowest-paying municipality around,” he said.

In December council will approve 2018 water and sewer rates.