Essex County sets budget with a 1.43% increase
Essex County council budget deliberations results in a slight tax hike.
Increase to cost average homeowner $13.63 more this year
Essex County council has set its 2019 budget at $102,867,990, resulting in a 1.43 per cent increase.
That translates to an increase of $13.63 on a home worth $200,000. That homeowner would be looking at an annual tax levy of $966.54.
County CAO Robert Maisonville said the increase was not due to the county`s operating budget, but because of rising infrastructure costs — such as road improvements and the county's committment of $100,000,000 for the new mega-hospital.
"That's one project that we have to fund that really isn't what we do," said Maisonville said about the mega-hospital.
Maisonville said he believes the 1.43 per cent increase is reasonable.