Law360 Canada (January 23, 2024, 9:06 AM EST)
It is budget time in my hometown of Cobourg, Ont. Policing is the costliest municipal service, accounting for almost half the property owners’ tax levy.
Cobourg’s police service is the most oversized line item on the town’s budget.
As we hear more about the stormwater fees that are being billed to Cobourg residents, we thought an update would be appropriate.
Very few municipalities in Ontario have stormwater management fees.
| London | Markham | Richmond Hill |
| Aurora | Mississauga | Guelph |
| St. THomas | Newmarket | Ottawa |
| Kitchener | Waterloo |
Cobourg decided they should join the larger cities and ended up with a myriad of complaints.
Cobourg’s 2022 Operating Budget is increasing 6.3%. After accounting for New Assessment Growth of 2.2%, the average resident will see an increase of 4.1% but for some the increase will be much more. Other municipalities tax increases are much lower.
Several noted Economists have been sounding the alarm bells over the declining Labour Participation forecasts coming from organizations such as Statistics Canada. While I don’t consider myself an Economist, I instruct university-level business courses that demand some basic understanding of the subject.
The Cobourg 2022 operations budget was released on Friday October 22, 2021. This, along with the accelerated budget review/approval schedule, are a welcome improvement over past budget timetables.
There is a serious problem however. The 2021 YTD actual comparative data are as at October 19, 2021 and do not represent a full year of operation’s activity.
© 2022 Cobourg Taxpayers Association
