Toronto (Jan 10) – Toronto’s proposed budget for 2024 includes a stiff 10.5% property tax increase for homeowners.
City staff prepared an operating budget that includes a property tax hike of nine per cent for residential properties plus a 1.5 per cent increase for the City Building Fund levy dedicated to critical capital investments in transit and housing.
This amounts to an increase of $321 annually (property tax portion) plus an additional $53 (city building fund levy) for the average assessed value of a Toronto home or the equivalent to a monthly increase of $26.75 (property tax) and $4.42 (city building fund levy).
The budget proposes base property tax increases of 4.5 per cent for multi-residential properties, 4.5 per cent for commercial properties and nine per cent for industrial properties and continues to include a 15 per cent property tax rate reduction to support more than 29,600 small businesses. These properties will also pay the city building fund levy.
Consistent with the interim rates approved by Council in December 2023, the staff prepared budget includes rate increases of three per cent for Toronto Water and Solid Waste Management Services, the City said in a news release. For the average Toronto household using 230 cubic metres of water per year, the interim rate will cost an additional $30 annually (eight cents a day). Solid waste fees for a single-family household will increase by $9 to $16 annually, dependant on the size of the household’s garbage bin.
In addition to these actions, the staff prepared 2024 operating budget expects to have access to a federal funding program providing full reimbursement of costs associated with refugee claimant response, currently estimated at $250 million for 2024.
Toronto residents and businesses are encouraged to continue to share their feedback about the 2024 staff prepared Budget by joining one of three telephone town halls on January 16, 17 and 18 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
“We’re building a financially stable and sustainable future for Toronto to ensure the 2024 Budget maintains frontline services for Torontonians and makes smart investments in housing, transit and community safety,” Mayor Olivia Chow said in a written statement. “However, we can not do this alone, so I will build on the success of our Ontario-Toronto New Deal and continue to advocate for federal funding, especially when it comes to their area of responsibility: refugee support.”
