Kings council holds tax rates while increasing spending
Widespread impacts of inflation are evident in the County of Kings as spending associated with the annual operating budget will increase by nearly 10 per cent.
At a special meeting on March 20, Kings County council voted unanimously to approve the balanced 20242025 operating budget, totaling $65.3 million, and capital budget, totaling $41.6 million.
The residential and resource tax rate will be held at $0.853 per $100 of assessed property value, which has remained unchanged since 2009. The commercial tax rate has been set at $2.287 per $100 of assessed property value. It hasn’t changed since 2010.
Increases to assessed property values will allow the municipality to generate more revenue, managing inflationary pressures and significant increases to mandatory provincial payments without raising rates.
Although tax rates will remain unchanged, any residential or business property owner who has seen their assessed property values go up will be paying more in property taxes. In the County of Kings, assessment has grown 3.2 per cent for CAP eligible properties; 5 per cent for new housing construction and major renovations; and 10.3 per cent for commercial properties over last year.
Finance and IT director Greg Barr and financial reporting manager Mike Livingstone presented the budget documents prior to council’s approval.
Coun. Tim Harding said he had been studying the documents, “trying to realize maybe that we could reduce our tax rate at some point.” However, he said he found the budget to be “excellent” and thanked staff for their efforts.
The cost of mandatory provincial payments accounts for 42 per cent of the $65.3 million operating budget. Even though municipalities are no longer required to fund regional housing and corrections, mandatory payments increased by 4.7 per cent over last year, bringing the total budgeted amount to $27,409,400.
Education contributions make up 24 per cent and policing and prosecution costs account for 14.9 per cent of the overall operating budget. The education contribution will increase by $1,595,600 and policing services is up $596,700 over last year.
Overall funding to fire departments serving Kings County will increase by 5.2 per cent, from $2,689,555 to $2,829,700.
There are 47 projects making up the $41.6 million capital budget. These represent strategic investments in municipal assets including buildings, roads, sidewalks, vehicles, sewer infrastructure, and the Greenwood Water Utility.
More than $3 million has been budgeted for Community Grants Programs that will benefit a wide range of organizations and individuals. This includes $254,000 in funding for external service providers that make unique services available to Kings County residents.
The Personal Property Tax Reduction amount for households with a total income below $46,000 has increased by $50. This will provide eligible applicants with up to $560 in tax relief.