Even though the City of Pickering is yet in the public consultation process and has not revealed staff recommended new property tax bill for residents, it has indicated the direction.
It said the budget pressures include:
- Current high inflation environment – costs for routine service delivery and construction/building activity has increased significantly.
- Revenue loss from new provincial legislation, like Bill 23 – the province is shifting some of the development-related costs of growth from the developers to municipalities.
For 2023, the council had approved a rise in the city’s portion of the residential property tax bill by 2.44 percent (this equates to $164.25 on the average assessed home in Pickering of $612,000.). This increase, when combined with the Region of Durham and School Board increases, resulted in an average rise of 5.31 percent on the total property tax bill.
So far, Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington have announced their own municipal tax increases for 2024 of 3.89 per cent, 1.8 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.
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