date posted: 2002-04-01
Town Council has recently approved the Operating Budget for 2002, which includes a modest 2.65% increase in the residential tax rate. It is the first tax increase in Richmond Hill in eleven years and translates into a $20.00 increase on a home assessed at $250,000 (or about 6 cents a day). This brings the Town's portion of the residential tax bill to $758.00 annually on that same home assessed at $250,000. The balance of your municipal tax bill goes to the Region of York and to education taxes.
The long term outcome of tax freezes or not keeping up with inflation is that eventually the increase in the costs of maintaining services to the residents of Richmond Hill will exceed the new tax revenues brought in by growth. We have now reached that point. Richmond Hill faces significant expenditure pressures in the near future, including major increases in the costs of disposing of garbage. There is a also a pressing need to upgrade or replace infrastructure such as roads, sewer and water lines in the older areas of Town.
While the Town is well positioned with its financial reserves (including the proceeds of the sale of Richmond Hill Hydro), it would be short sighted to disregard the looming financial pressures ahead. Prudent financial management includes setting aside money to rebuild our aging infrastructure and protecting our residents from paying through the nose when the eventual rainy day arrives!