in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 26 ,2 01 9 | 10 oakville.ca Mayor and Council's Annual New Year's Levee Sunday, January 5, 2020 from 1 to 3 p.m. Town Hall, South Atrium, 1225 Trafalgar Road Please join Mayor Rob Burton and Members of Council in celebrating the passing of another year at the Annual New Year's Levee. The event will feature brief remarks from Mayor Burton as well as light refreshments and musical entertainment. Oakville homeowners will see a two per cent hike to their property tax bill in 2020. Town council votedTown council votedT unanimously during their Monday, Dec. 16 meeting to pass the 2020 Budget Com- mittee's recommendations. The Town's portion of the tax bill is actually in- creasing 3.08 per cent, how- ever this figure drops when combined with an estimat- ed zero per cent increase to education rates and an ap- proved increase to Halton Region taxes.Region taxes.R The two per cent proper- ty tax increase is higher than the 1.53 per cent hike to property taxes in 2019, where the Town's portion of the tax bill increase was 1.99 per cent. It is also slightly higher than the 1.75 per cent increase in 2018, where the Town increase was 2.58 perTown increase was 2.58 perT cent. The 2020 hike will see residential property taxes increase by $14.73 per $100,000 of assessment, meaning the owner of a home assessed at $800,000 will pay an additional $117.84 per year or $2.27 per week. "In 2020, town council will focus on building a cli- mate change resilient com- munity," said Oakville May- or Rob Burton. "We're protecting our green space by investing in environmentally sustain- able practices, and main- taining our high-quality programs, services and in- frastructure to keep Oak-frastructure to keep Oak-f ville one of the most livable and fiscally healthy com- munities in Canada." The prepared budget ad- heres to council's guideline of keeping tax increases in line with inflation. It features an operating budget of $345.5 million and a capital budget of $119.4 million. Some of the key projects funded in the 2020 budgetfunded in the 2020 budgetf include: • $10.8 million for the Downtown Oakville Lake- shore Road reconstruction/ streetscape project; • $11.2 million for storm- water and erosion control; • $7.1 million for the Oak- ville Trafalgar Community Centre; • $4.8 million for the wid- ening of Speers Road be- tween Fourth Line and Dor- val Drive; • $8.1 million for the Town's road resurfacingTown's road resurfacingT program; • $3.4 million for the Kerr Street widening and grade separation project; • $4 million for replace- ment buses (electric); • $4 million for the recon- struction of North Service Road (east of Trafalgar Road). Another $3.3 million will be used to help fund a new fire station at Pine Glen andfire station at Pine Glen andf Bronte Road, while $300,000 will be used to improve parks and trails, including the Bronte Athletic Field and St. Ann's Park. Funds will also be used for renovations at 16 Milefor renovations at 16 Milef Sports Complex and the River Oaks Community Centre. A request for a new skate park at the Cornwall Road Sports Park has been re- ferred to the 2021 budget. ferred to the 2021 budget. f "Residents tell me they are impressed by council's commitment to good finan- cial management," said Budget Committee chair Tom Adams.Tom Adams.T "This budget keeps us on track to keep taxes in line with inflation, and main- tains healthy reserves, low levels of tax-paid debt, and significant funding for building and maintaining infrastructure." During the budget pro- cess Town staff noted $2.3 million in internal savings were recognized from re- views undertaken in 2018 and 2019. Council also gave a direc- tion to Town staff to prepare budgets for 2021-2023 that will keep overall property taxes in line with inflation. With this goal in mind,With this goal in mind,W Burton expressed concern about the provincial Devel- opment Charges Act and its requirement that munici- palities subsidize more growth-related costs. "There are downloads being absorbed in the re- gional portion of our 2020 municipal budgets. There appear to be downloads coming to be absorbed in fu- ture municipal budgets at both town and regional lev- els," said Burton. "The same minister who told municipalities the Community Benefits Charge will keep us whole on financing also told devel- opers they can expect to re- ceive savings. It will be in- teresting to see how he will make both of these things come true." For more information onFor more information onF the 2020 budget, visit oakvil- le.ca. COUNCIL APPROVES 2 PER CENT PROPERTY TAX INCREASE DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS BUDGET FUNDS NEW COMMUNITY CENTRE, NEW FIRE STATION, ELECTRIC BUSES AND MORE A two per cent property tax increase has been approved in Oakville. Torstar file photo 'This budget keeps us on track to keep taxes in line with inflation, and maintains healthy reserves, low levels of tax-paid debt, and significant funding for building and maintaining infrastructure.' - 2020 Budget Committee chair Tom Adams