If you own a house in Barrie, your property tax bill will jump by 2.9 per cent this year.
City councillors tentatively approved the increase Monday night, adding about $108 to the bill for a home assessed at $285,000.
If the increase is ratified by council next week, the tax bill for that house will jump to $3,809 for 2016.
The increase will buy:
- 20 new staff members
- Services maintained at 2015 levels
- Road construction projects on Ferndale Drive from Dunlop to Tiffin streets;
- Renewed Johnson Street from Shanty Bay Road to the beach;
- Centennial Park reconstruction and boardwalk;
- Allandale Station completion;
- Memorial Square's redevelopment;
- Military Heritage Park
Increases are being attributed in part to jumps in the city police and public library budgets.
The police budget jumped by almost 3 per cent. That's $1.4 million more.
Salaries and benefits account for 92 per cent of the police budget for 241 officers and 101 civilian employees.
Patti Elliott-Spencer, General Manager of Community and Corporate Services, presented the budget - including 21 new staff positions - to council.
She call the expenditures "good value" and compared the average tax bill to other typical expenditures that homeowners manage such as car insurance, heat and internet services.
"You do get quite a lot of services," she said. "You do get a lot for what you pay on property taxes."
