HawthorneVillager.com

When it is announced that "property taxes are increasing by 4%", what does that mean?

A) Overall city budget is increasing by 4%, and property taxes will be raised in a proportional manner to cover that 4%

B) The % rate charged to each house will go up by an amount that will cause an increase of 4%

C) The % rate charged to each house will go up by 4%


A and B might possibly be the same thing, I am not entirely clear how it is assessed. I was just wondering if Milton goes "we are going to charge 3.5% of assessed house value this year" or if they go "we need to raise $59.3 million this year, spread that amount over property values to determine how much we need to charge".

Also, in the Star today, they had the rates for some cities, anybody know the rate for Milton?

Tanya is right 4% is the toronto number, here's an email I got from Gary Carr regarding Miltons tax increase


Halton Region adopts 2009 budget with one of the lowest regional tax
increases in the Province

Today Halton Regional Council unanimously approved the 2009 Budget and
Business Plan. With a 1.7 per cent increase in the Region's portion of
property taxes, the increase is one of the lowest in the Province of
Ontario.

The key drivers for this year's budget included maintaining service
levels, responding to the community and investing in capital
infrastructure. The 1.7 per cent increase allows for some needed new
programming, such as the creation of a youth psychiatric service, 150
new subsidized child care spaces, enhanced waste diversion programs, and
the servicing of new employment lands to assist in new job creation.
For more information about the 2009 Budget, dial 311 or 905-825-6000,
toll free 1-866-4HALTON (1-866-442-5866) or TTY 905-825-9833 or visit
Halton Region's website at www.halton.ca

Sincerely,


Gary Carr
Regional Chair

I think it will be 1.7% of 1% (approx), so the total tax would be approx 1.017%. Please correct me if i am wrong.

Regards,
-Riaz

Ok, so a 4% increase means a 4% increase over the previous percentage. So, for example, if our previous taxation rate was 3%, a 4% increase would make it 3.12%.

Next question then, property taxes seem to be continuously increasing. Current economic conditions aside, house prices have generally increased. Obviously, re-assessment only takes place every few years, but after houses are assessed, their values have (generally) gone up, so should not the municipalities have been offering overall tax decreases?

With inflation, overall amounts paid in property taxes should increase, but I am not entirely clear why the percentage should ever increase, barring mismanagement by the municipal councillors.

Am I missing something? I sense that the fly in my understanding ointment may be the assessments, but I'm not sure why that makes me wrong. Any clarification would be appreciated. Thanks!