Windsor homeowners to see tax hike of 4.48%

Windsor city councillors approved a 4.48 per cent increase to the southwestern Ontario city's property tax levy following hours of debate, in a bid to lower one of the largest tax hikes Windsorites have faced in decades.

Councillors supporting the budget said they wished a lower tax increase was possible — but said it was "realistic" given the pressures facing the city amid high inflation and COVID-19 pandemic recovery.

"I get that none of us enjoy being in a time of inflation… it is a pain felt by all of us," Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens told councillors Monday. "When you are growing, you have to invest. It's a great time of growth for our city but it presents difficulties that have to be dealt with.

"This budget I would submit responsibly deals with those pressures."

The 4.48 per cent budget increase gives the city an additional $21 million this year, for a total operating budget of $458 million. 

The city's original proposed tax increase of 5.02 per cent was lowered by councillors through Monday's debate of departmental requests, like suggested new hires. Those positions include a parks and facility analyst, a planning analyst for Transit Windsor and a public works administrator, all identified by departments as priority hires to manage the growing city workload but not funded by council Monday. 

Council opted against funding $480,000 to create a fleet reserve for Transit Windsor, which would begin paying for the replacement of Transit Windsor buses as they wear out. 

Councillors also debated $465,000 for Transit Windsor for new routes and to help manage the service's growth, but ultimately decided against the cut with surging ridership — currently at 118 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, city staff said. 

The operating budget covers the cost of city services like snow removal, transit and agencies like the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. It also includes the Asset Management Plan, which supports the maintenance of city infrastructure like roads and natural areas.

Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis was the lone vote against the budget, telling CBC News he felt council "could have done more" to mitigate the hit to taxpayers.

"It wasn't the will of council to go down further so I voted against it," Francis said. "Realistically speaking, I think we could have got it under three per cent or very close to three per cent … I would have been a little bit more comfortable with that figure."

Other councillors said they'd like to see a lower increase, but considering inflation and the city's growth they felt the 2023 budget was "sustainable."

"A 4.48 per cent increase as the city is growing and we're adding assets … is not something I'm going to have a celebratory drink about, but it's realistic," said Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac. "I will support it."

Some increases out of council's control: mayor

Dilkens said as much as 2.5 per cent of the city's budget increase this year was out of council's control: negotiated salary increases and extra costs for heating and fuel. Without COVID-19 and inflationary pressures this year's budget would likely have been in the range of one to 1.5 per cent, he added. 

"This council, past councils since I have been here, have always ... made prudent decisions when it comes to spending and I think the residents know that," Dilkens said. "If we weren't at a period of 40-year high inflation,  if we weren't dealing with the effects of COVID-19 we've had to figure out how to finance within the municipality, if all these things weren't happening at the same time we'd probably  have a different budget today.

"But the reality is those things are here, we have to deal with them and I think we've done it in a fiscally responsible way."

One Ward 2 resident, who has previously run as a councillor for the ward, said they felt the city was ready for a large tax increase. 

"We've been 20 years attempting to hold the line on taxes, and in my opinion the city is deteriorating because of it," said Caroline Taylor. "Our roads are horrendous, we're flooding, our poor are some of the poorest in the country."

The capital budget also approved Monday plans for large-scale projects over the next decade. The capital budget does not impact property taxes.

The City of Windsor's operating budget is partly funded by the residential property tax, which is paid by property owners and is based on the property's assessed value.

The last significant property tax increase for Windsorites was about 6.5 per cent in 2004, according to the City of Windsor's deputy treasurer, Tony Ardovini. In the last five years, the increase ranged from 0 per cent to 2.1 per cent. In 10 of the last 16 years, the budget increase was zero per cent.

Ardovini told CBC News last month that this budget is also a result of inflation, which is increasing the cost of equipment, fuel, construction and other services.

Despite this, the city said the proposed increase is still below the average 2023 municipal tax of 5.34 per cent for similar-sized municipalities in the province.