Proposed Budget Indicates A Property Tax Hike In 2019

Brampton | Ontario | Latest News |

Published February 27, 2019 at 10:53 pm

In a video posted to his Facebook five months ago, Patrick Brown announced his intention to freeze property taxes, citing outlandish

In a video posted to his Facebook five months ago, Patrick Brown announced his intention to freeze property taxes, citing outlandish spending by City Hall being unfair to Brampton taxpayers.

“For the very first time, we now have property taxes higher in Brampton than even the city of Toronto,” then candidate Patrick Brown said. “The lack of industry and wasteful spending at Brampton City Hall has made this a very expensive city to live in. Enough.”

The newly released 2019-2021 proposed budget seems to show otherwise, however, with a supposed increase on the way.

“For taxpayers, the combined property tax increase on their tax bill will be 1.4 per cent in 2019,” the highlights of the budget indicated. “This includes tax increases by the City (0.3%), Region of Peel (1.1%) and the School Boards (0%).”

During mayoral debates ahead of last year’s October election, in which candidate Brown and then-incumbent Mayor Linda Jeffrey sparred to each other’s chagrin, Brown maintained in his campaign pledges, as seen above in the previous Facebook video, that he would freeze property taxes and prevent them from increasing like they did under Jeffrey’s term.

It remains to be seen whether or not current Mayor Brown will be to stay the course on his campaign promises, or if the 1.4 per cent increased property tax will become permanent once the budget is finalized next month.

The 2029-2021 proposed budget also includes things such as an increase in the transit fleet by 16 per cent over three years, which will add 46 conventional buses alongside 25 Zum buses.

A one per cent Transit Dedicated Levy, which is equivalent to $23 on the average annual tax bill, is also being proposed, which will attempt to provide a dedicated, stable source of funding for future Transit growth needs.

To get more direct input from Bramptonians, a March 4 Telephone Town Hall on Budget will be held from 6 to 7 p.m., along with feedback forms being available.

Mayor Brown is also conducting coffee chat town halls, where he visits coffee and tea shops around Brampton to have conversations about the proposed budget vis-a-vis with Brampton residents.

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