Property taxes in Tecumseh set to rise, but mayor says it could have been much worse

Property taxes in Tecumseh are set to rise next year, but the town's mayor is crediting the provincial government with making changes that kept the increase from being much worse.

Council passed Tecumseh's 2018 budget last night, including a 2.2 per cent property tax hike.

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Gary McNamara saidys that number could have been 7 to 10 per cent based on the first draft of the province's labour reform bill.

He's pleased the Liberals backed off on some provisions, such as requiring municipalities to provide standby pay for snow plow operators and volunteer firefighters.

"Government understood that there was some impacts that made no sense, absolutely no sense, to municipalities, so therefore they make those amendments," he explained. "There's still some lingering pieces that once the bill receives royal assent, we'll have a better idea of, but we feel pretty confident that the measures that we've covered in the budget will certainly cover those increases."

McNamara added Ontario's decision to back down on a requirement to pay volunteer firefighters the same as full-timers also saved the town $1.4 million.

$4 million from the budget has also been set aside to improve sewers and storm water retention.