Lambton County residents could see a bump in their property taxes in 2020.
The county's draft budget, which proposes $220.7 million in spending, was presented to councillors on Wednesday.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said the document calls for a 3.42 per cent property tax increase.
He said the province is transferring costs to municipal governments, and that's to blame for about 1.4 per cent of the proposed hike.
Lambton County is getting just over $1 million less than usual.
"The health unit is probably the best example," said Bradley. "There's basically another $1 million in costs there that are coming down to the local level by changing the formula. It's an insider thing. If we want to continue to maintain the level of service, which is an excellent service for the people of Sarnia-Lambton, then we'll have to come up with the money."
Bradley said the increase doesn't include grant requests from various community groups.
Bluewater Health wants $1 million annually for 10 years for capital improvements in Sarnia and Petrolia.
There are also funding requests for Victoria Playhouse Petrolia and Forest's Kineto Theatre.
Bradley said they'll have to take a hard look at those requests given the increased pressure on municipalities to fund things like old age homes, social housing, and ambulance services.
County council will debate the proposed budget at its upcoming meeting on March 4.
