Average tax hike higher in old city
Where you live and what services you receive can make quite a difference
Old-city homeowners will see some of the highest percentage tax increases in 2024, according to a new geographical breakdown report.
After much debate, Hamilton council in February adopted a $1.1billion net levy budget for 2024 that translated into an “average” 5.79 per cent tax hike for the owner of a home assessed at $385,900 — or an extra $286.
Mayor Andrea Horwath called the much-debated budget a “balancing act” meant to address crises like homelessness while not breaking the bank for stressed taxpayers. (The city also urged residents to blame about $125 of that tax hike on provincial downloading of development costs.)
Regardless, where you live and what services you receive can make quite a difference to the actual dollar increase on your tax bill.
Council will consider a report released this week breaking down tax impacts by ward, with percentage hikes ranging from 3.2 to 7.5 per cent. Those numbers are influenced by everything from assessment growth to home value to “area rated” service levels that differ by geographical location.
For example, each ward within the old city of Hamilton boundaries — which collectively pay more than 80 per cent of the bill for transit — can expect an average tax hike of 7.3 per cent.
But the actual dollar amount associated with that 7.3 per cent hike varies widely across lower city and Mountain wards, partly because of differing average assessed home values.
In Ward 1, where the average home is assessed at around $408,000, the associated bill increase would be close to $400. But taxpayers living in a Ward 3 home assessed at the average value of $230,000 will see their tax bill climb by about $224.
About 2,500 urban Glanbrook homes will see the top citywide tax hike at 7.5 per cent, partly due to area-rated transit improvements on the A-line to the airport. That translates into a hike of $376 for the owner of a home with an average assessed value of $408,000.
Some areas of the city will also see tax hikes that are notably smaller than the publicized city average in 2024. Parts of wards 9 and 10 in the former town of Stoney Creek, for example, will see an average tax hike closer to 3.2 per cent with a dollar bump of around $150. That benefit is partly due to the gradual phase-out of historical area-rated taxation for things like street lights, sidewalks and recreation.
In general, there is more tax hike variation in rural and suburban wards, which pay different amounts for transit and host varied levels of fire service from full-time firefighters, volunteers or both.
Most rural taxpayers with volunteer fire services will see a five per cent tax hike, with average dollar increases ranging from $222 to close to $300.
Right now, various areas of the city still pay radically different amounts for transit based on service level of pre-amalgamation municipal boundaries.
A promised debate over potential changes to area-rated transit has yet to occur.