CENTRAL MANITOULIN—Council of the Municipality of Central Manitoulin passed its 2024 budget at its February 8 meeting with a five percent increase to its mill rate. The mill rate is that rate at which properties are taxed for each $1,000 of assessed value and reflects that property owner’s share of the overall levy.
“I was bidding for a four percent increase,” said Central Manitoulin Mayor Richard Stephens, “the staff request was for six percent—we met in the middle.”
Given the challenges being faced by municipalities across the province in the wake of increased construction and material costs, Mayor Stephens said bringing the tax increases down required some tough decisions.
Unfortunately, noted the mayor, to get to that point required considerable pencil sharpening and the postponement of a significant portion of the municipal wish list. “We had to do some deferrals of capital costs,” he admitted.
With the costs associated with dealing with the closure of the community’s landfill, “there was not a lot of room,” said Mayor Stephens. Those difficult choices included repurposing nearly $700,000 earmarked for a future recreation complex and community centre into the working capital reserves.
Each percentage point increase in the mill rate equates roughly to $55,000 in increased levy costs, meaning that this year’s overall tax levy is coming in around $275,000 higher than last year, despite the considerable reallocation of reserves.
