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5 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,D ecem ber 16,2021 insidehalton.com Aleading, award-winningbuilder of qualitynewhome development and communities.Webringyouthebest thatNiagara has to offer, right outside your doorstep. COMINGSOON in Fort Erie NOWSELLING! in St. Catharines NOWSELLING! in Niagara Falls AVAILABLECOMMUNITIES Learn more at Silvergatehomes.com Building for your Lifestyle forover35Years inNiagara @silvergate_homes For a Free consultation call oakville: 905.842.2022 ToronTo: 416.644.3999 Denied Disabled Benefits? I canhelp. My teamof experienced lawyers can help youwith: •Disability Claims Short-TermDisability, long-TermDisability, CPP •Car accidents •Slip and Falls •Wrongful Dismissal Injured? I don't get paid unless I getYoumoneY. oFFiCeS in oakville and ToronTo eMail: sspadafora@slspc.ca Disability and EmploymEnt law Disability After a number of revi- sions to its 2022 budget, the Town of Oakville is tenta- tively proposing a property tax increase of 1.77 per cent, rather than the origi- nal hike of 1.7 per cent. The budget will go be- fore council for approval on Monday, Dec. 20. In the meantime, the budget com- mittee has asked staff to ex- plore options that would see the overall increase drop to 1.6 per cent. Local resident Denise Fuller feels a 1.77 per cent increase is "a bit much." "With the cost of infla- tion going up with the pan- demic, that it's an added ex- pense I'm sure not every- one can help pocket," she said. "But with all the building going on north of Dundas, I can kind of see why our property taxes are rising." The Town of Oakville council presented its pro- posed budget for 2022 in mid-November. Overall, the Town's combined oper- ating and capital budget came out to $602.2 million, up from last year's budget of $429.2 million. Part and parcel with the budget increase are prop- erty taxes. The Town re- vised its original assess- ment of a 1.7 per cent in- crease after it took other obligations into account. "Oakville residents pay a combined tax bill to cover the cost of town, regional and educational services," said Director of Finance Jonathan van der Heiden. Though recently, "staff learned that the Region's updated proposed tax in- crease was 2.2 per cent, which resulted in an in- crease to the overall esti- mated increase of 1.77 per cent," van der Heiden add- ed. "The 2022 Budget and Business Plan (for Halton Region) includes a 2 per cent property tax increase for regional services and a 2.5 per cent increase for the Halton Regional Police Ser- vice. Combined, the overall regional property tax in- crease is 2.2 per cent," Hal- ton Region said in an emailed statement. A potential 1.6 per cent -- compared to 1.77 per cent -- is "not much of a differ- ence," as far as Fuller is concerned. She added: "I think just everyone's very stressed and a lot of people lost jobs, lost wages during COVID. We're not really out of CO- VID yet." Oakville's tax rate is lower than most other mu- nicipalities in Ontario. Out of 35 municipalities listed by Zoocasa.com, Oakville was the sixth cheapest. For homes assessed at a value of $500,000, residents pay $3,607.56 according to the 2021 rate. The next cheapest mu- nicipality is neighbouring Milton at $3,416.67. Oakville's current pro- posed increase of 1.77 per cent is also lower than some Ontario municipali- ties of comparable size. Kitchener is asking for a 1.9 per cent increase, Waterloo is looking at 3.1 per cent, and Barrie has finalized its increase at 2.94 per cent. Municipal affairs com- mentator Gord Hume be- lieves that 1.77 per cent is a "responsible amount in view of pressures on mu- nicipal governments, gen- erally." "I suspect it comes from price increases that we're all experiencing in our lives. You want to buy a piece of lumber, if you go to get a service or product, probably paying a lot more for grocery, certainly, or gasoline is up. All of those costs are reflected in mu- nicipal budgets as well." He continued: "Inflation is certainly a factor.... But when I look at other munic- ipalities across Canada, I'm seeing a lot coming in at 2 to 3 per cent." However, the cost of liv- ing in Oakville is higher than in many Canadian mu- nicipalities of similar size. The estimated monthly ex- penditure for a family of four, not including rent, in the town is about $4,721.60. That is higher than such municipalities as Windsor, Kitchener and Kelowna. A resident would need $6,419.69 to maintain their quality of life in Oakville they could have in Kitche- ner for $5,400. Although it should be said that rent in the town is 9.4 per cent cheaper than Toronto. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With the Town of Oakville in the midst of budget deliberations, we wanted to see how resi- dents and officials felt about the proposed tax increase. TOWN PROPOSING BUDGET WITH 1.77% TAX INCREASE Councillor Tom Adams chairs the budget committee discussions. Town of Oakville screengrab MANSOOR TANWEER mtanweer@metroland.com NEWS FINAL APPROVAL SET FOR DEC. 20