Region of Waterloo council approves 9.48% property tax hike in 2025

Region of Waterloo councillors have approved the 2025 budget, which will result in a 9.48 per cent increase to the regional portion of property taxes.

The $2.4 billion 2025 operating and capital budget for regional services, including police, was approved during a meeting on Friday.

The region says that translates into an increase of $241 per year for the average property owner, or $20 more each month. 

The budget includes policing costs as well as other projects, such as:

• Hiring paramedics.
• Improving road safety through speed cameras and roundabouts.
• Advancing the region's plan to end chronic homelessness including more extreme weather supports and expanding rent supplements.
• More buses and frequency and expanding accessible transit through MobilityPlus.
• Making transit free for children under the age of six.
• Construction to support new housing, including new water wells.

To save some money, regional council members approved some service reductions which included delaying the reopening of Doon Village at the Ken Seiling Region of Waterloo Museum to 2026.

Coun. Michael Harris said in a release it was a "challenging budget process" as the region continues to face rising costs from inflation and a growing population.

"I'm glad that council worked together and was able to find the balance necessary to maintain the services that residents rely on, while keeping the impact on individual taxpayers front of mind," said Harris, who also chairs the strategic planning and budget committee.

Debate over putting a 5% cap on increase

Council was expected to pass the budget during its meeting on Dec. 11. But after a late motion by Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, council voted to postpone budget talks to Friday.

In his motion, Vrbanovic said he wanted to cap each department's budget to a 5 per cent increase, leaving it up to staff from each department to figure out how they will make the adjustments needed to fit within the limit.

On Friday, some councillors spoke up against the idea.

Coun. Pam Wolf was concerned about the impact of making cuts to reduce property taxes.

"I know people have said that homeowners paying property tax can't afford this," she said. "Well, the people who are paying property tax have property. The people whose services we are cutting generally don't have property. We're hurting our most vulnerable people."

The comment received pushback from several councillors including Sue Foxton, who shared a story about a couple she encountered at a bank.

"[The] couple was pleading with the bank because they were going to lose their home. And they were going to be homeless. People aren't walking away from homes with money in their pocket. They're walking away with mortgages," Foxton said while addressing her colleagues. "People are at the breaking point. If we don't realize this, we are in trouble."

Coun. Doug Craig backed Foxton up.

"We tend to throw the words around 'most vulnerable' all the time when it suits our purpose and where we're going. I'd like to point out that homeowners are vulnerable too in many situations, not just in terms of budgets and taxes, but also community safety, which has not been addressed properly," Craig said. "It's the police budget that's helping to bring it all down."

Coun. Rob Deutschmann came to Wolf's defence.

"Has anyone been to our housing? Has anyone visited our housing to see what condition it is in? I don't think too many have or else you would be opposed to any sort of cut to fixing the supply that we have in our community currently."

Mayor Vrbanovic compared the region's tax increase to other regions like Peel, which had a property tax increase of 5.5 per cent and Durham region, which saw a tax increase of 4.9 per cent.

"I think we need to remember the decisions we make are going to impact people," Vrbanovic said.

"It's going to mean more people are potentially going to lose their home, putting pressure on our rental market, potentially putting pressure on our homelessness costs, that are then going to just go up."