London taxpayers will face a property tax increase of 8.7 per cent this year after councillors approved the hike on Thursday night.
Councillors put the finishing touches on budget deliberations, and while there was an attempt to reduce the size of the police budget, that attempt failed. Councillor Anna Hopkins put forward a motion in hopes of trimming the police budget by $4.9 million. That motion required a council majority to open debate, but it lost by a vote of 9-6 (Mayor Josh Morgan and Councillors Peloza, Pribil, Cuddy, Van Meerbergen, Hillier, Lehman, Stevenson, and Lewis cast the "no" votes).
“There is a real misunderstanding about Council’s ability to change the police budget," said Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis. "Unlike other boards there is a lot of provincial legislation involved here. But just as important is a lack of understanding much of what is in the police budget, more mental health crisis workers for the COAST program, a new special unit for sexual assault investigations, more traffic enforcement, these are all things that make our city safer and change the way we do policing in London. It’s the largest modernization in living memory."
The London Police Service will get its $672 million over four years. The increase in 2024 amounts to 28 per cent.
Lewis stressed that council did work hard to trim the budget to provide taxpayers with savings without compromising services.
"It has been a long time since London has seen such a significant tax increase and there is a lot of concern in the community about the cost of everything, inflation on groceries and utilities and everything, with an 8.7 per cent property tax increase on top of that, it’s completely understandable and why it’s important we kept this tax rate as low as possible," said Lewis. "As difficult as 8.7 per cent is, it could have been 14 per cent if we just said yes to everything.”
Mayor Josh Morgan announced on Friday he will not be using his strong mayor powers to make any changes to the city budget.
Under the strong mayor powers given to Morgan by Premier Doug Ford, he could have vetoed council approved amendments to the fiscal document. In choosing not to do so, Morgan said he is proud of council for the time and care that went into each decision.
"With all amendments having been finalized, the tabled budget is now Council’s budget," said Morgan. "We have prioritized vital city services, and I know all members of Council are fully committed to ensuring these investments deliver on the types of results Londoners both expect and deserve. In the meantime, I can also ensure Londoners that work on lowering the projected tax increases for future years will begin immediately.”
For the average London homeowner (with a home assessed at $252,000), the 8.7 per cent tax increase will amount to an addition $286 in property taxes this year.
Water are going up 2.5 per cent, while wastewater charges will rise by four per cent.
