GORDON—Gordon/Barrie Island taxpayers will should be happy with the news concerning the township’s 2018 budget.
“We have a zero percent increase in our tax rate for this year,” stated Gordon/Barrie island Reeve Lee Hayden at a council meeting last week. “We have an overall zero percent increase in our municipal tax rate,” noting, “overall our assessment through Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is up slightly.”
At last week’s meeting, the municipality’s auditor Mike Jakubo had presented council with the township’s 2017 audited financial statement. He stated Gordon/Barrie Island “is in very good financial shape.”
Mr. Hayden said the auditor’s report on the financial statements “looks like $40,000 in surplus will be transferred back into our reserves and allow us to build up our reserves to offset what had been depleted in our reserves and our budget to build our new garage and council chambers.”
He further explained the township has seen a slight increase in spending but with assessments having increased overall it has helped allow for a zero percent increase in Gordon/Barrie Island’s budget for 2018.
If an individual property owner in the township has seen a decrease in their assessment through MPAC it will mean a decrease in their taxes, while an increase in assessments should mean an increase in their taxes being felt.
