It’s budget day in Thunder Bay with the city announcing this morning what kind of a tax increase may be awaiting property owners.
The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Charla Robinson, notes there is one number which is the key to the process.
The chamber believes the number for the purposes of “total transparency” is the total tax levy increase. Robinson says that shows the total amount of increased taxes and spending the city is proposing for 2020.
That tax levy increase is usually slightly higher than the other number the city likes to talk about, which they call the tax increase after growth, where the city accounts for money it expects to get from new buildings and assessments.
As an example, last year the total tax levy increase was introduced at 3.35 percent while the after growth number was 2.95 percent.
When it all came down to final approval, the actual tax increase, with growth, was 2 percent and 2.3 percent before growth. That meant the average homeowner saw their tax bill increase about $70.
