Property taxes going up in 2024 as St. John's struggles with higher costs and aging equipment
Snow-clearing, waste collecting expenses are up; Metrobus funding goes down
St. John's residents will be paying higher property and water taxes in 2024 as the city grapples with higher road maintenance costs and aging snow-clearing and garbage trucks.
The residential mill rate is going up by 9.64 per cent, to 9.1 mills. The mill rate increase, plus a 3.4 increase in property assessments, means the average homeowners will see their property tax go up by just over $240 per year. Residential water taxes will go up by $5.
The commercial mill rate will increase by 2.6 mills to 29.5 mills.
Ron Ellsworth, St. John's city council's finance lead, said in the face of higher capital and maintenance costs, the city had to raise taxes to maintain services.
"We're trying to make strategic plans, strategic moves to keep our city solid, keep our programs solid, but to maintain our infrastructure," he told reporters Tuesday.
"In order to run this city and in order to run this operation, this is the cost we need."
This year's overall budget is going up 3.2 per cent, from $333,282,356 in 2023 to $343,947,041 in 2024.
The city expects to take in an additional $17,983,549 from the residential and commercial mill rate increases.
Snow-clearing, waste collection costs up
The city will spend $25.5 million on snow clearing in 2024, a 25.4 per cent increase from the previous year. According to Ellsworth, a significant portion of that increase will go toward new equipment. He said some aging equipment has been down 60 per cent of the time. The city's official snow-clearing season, which affects staffing levels, will permanently increase by two weeks in April.
At a briefing for journalists, a city official said residents should see faster snow clearing as the new equipment comes into service, although there are no current plans to increase road- and sidewalk-clearing service levels.
The city is allocating an additional $2.1 million for road maintenance, a 21.7 per cent increase driven by higher prices for asphalt and concrete.
The city is also spending $13.1 million on garbage collection, a 34.3 per cent increase from last year as it replaces aging garbage trucks. Ellsworth said the extra spending in infrastructure will translate to $810,000 in maintenance savings for the trucks.
Metrobus gets less funding
Metrobus ridership soared in 2023 — a 44 per cent increase over 2019, according to the city — so city council is reducing funding by $1.4 million.
Ellsworth said that reduction is due to increased revenue from that higher ridership.
Still, he said Metrobus is looking at ways to increase services, which could happen in the next three to six months.
"I anticipate when Metrobus is ready for any enhanced services or any enhanced programs, the funding that will be available, that will be needed, will be there," he said.
Ellsworth said Metrobus is also doing a ridership survey as part of its expansion planning.
There are no new significant housing investments in the budget, though Ellsworth said he expects to hear back about its proposal for federal housing funding within the next few weeks. The city currently has 476 affordable housing units.
St. John's Sports and Entertainment will get an extra $577,136 for the Mary Brown's Centre and St. John's Convention Centre, for an overall operating grant of $6.6 million.
He said the extra money is required to maintain the facilities and attract acts and events from outside the province.
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