Tuesday June 23, 2015

Tuesday June 23, 2015

Hamilton taxes 9 per cent higher than 16 big cities, report says

Cartoon originally published on Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Taxes for Hamilton homeowners remain stubbornly high compared to other large cities despite years of lower-than-average budget bumps, a new report shows.

The average municipal tax burden in 2014 for the owner of a home worth $289,000, about $3,747, is 9 per cent higher than the average among 16 cities with 100,000 or more residents.

Those taxes also represent more of our annual income, about 4.4 per cent, compared to the 4 per cent average among those cities, which include Burlington, Oshawa, Kingston and Barrie, for example.

Those numbers haven’t really budged since 2013, councillors learned after reviewing the latest “tax competitiveness” report at finance committee Monday.

On the upside, Hamilton has seen “significant” improvement over a decade, said finance head Mike Zegarac. In 2004, our taxes were on average 15 per cent higher than our comparator cities.

Industrial taxes also remain much lower than average — about 23 per cent — which Zegarac noted means residential homeowners have to shoulder more of the burden.

The tax disparity remains despite four straight years of Hamilton posting stingy tax increases, below inflation, last term. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)