Tecumseh property taxes rising 1.48% in '21

Tecumseh taxpayers will pay 1.48 per cent more in property taxes this year.

The town's council finished its 2021 budget deliberations Wednesday.

The increase amounts to $51 more for a $250,000-home, the average assessment for a single family dwelling based on the latest Municipal Property Assessment Corporation data in 2016.

The municipal portion of the taxes is rising 2.46 per cent. But the County of Essex portion is only .49 per cent and there is no increase in the provincial tax for education.

The town's increase would have been higher, but the growth in assessment was higher than expected.

The budget includes an increase of $968,000 to the general tax levy.

Of this, $566,000 will go to reserves to support the town's capital projects this year and in the future, and the remaining 40 per cent is for operations.

About $26.3 million in capital projects are scheduled to start in 2021, including improvements to Manning Road, improvements at the intersection of Lesperance Road and the VIA Rail tracks, design and construction in the Manning Road Secondary Plan Area and a new pickleball complex.

A large, multi-year project to replace the P.J. Cecile, Scully and St. Marks pumping stations and associated storm water main works for flood mitigation is also scheduled to start this year.

That project is expected to cost the town approximately $26 million, with up to $10.7 million of that coming from the federal government's Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.

“As we saw in 2020, much of our revenue sources were impacted by the closure of facilities and reduction in programs,” said Mayor Gary Mcnamara.

Council is expected to vote for final approval of the 2021 budget bylaw at its meeting on Jan. 26, 2021.