SHUNIAH — Shuniah property owners will see their taxes rise by just over five per cent this year if council approves an $11.5-million budget.
If the proposed budget is approved at council’s Jan. 30 meeting, taxes would rise by 5.25 per cent, or about $100 per year based on a $350,000 home, the municipality says. A homeowner with a property valued at that amount currently pays about $2,800 in property taxes. Assessment values are set by the province.
“While there’s several factors that contribute to the increase, the combination of inflation and the planned rehabilitation of Lakeshore Drive over the next two to five years is the primary force influencing the tax levy,” Shuniah chief administrator Paul Greenwood said on Monday.
Greenwood added: “Overall, the municipality is in a strong financial position with positive financial indicators when it comes to our ability to service our operating and infrastructure obligations both now and into the future.”
In order to avoid a larger increase, the 2024 draft budget proposes to transfer $236,000 from the municipality’s reserves.
The cost of the Lakeshore Drive upgrade has been estimated at $8.7 million, Greenwood said.
Among the big-ticket expenses set to go up this year are roads (to just over $2 million, or by 9.6 per cent) social and family services (to $1 million, or by 9.3 per cent) and planning and development (to $272,000, or 66 per cent). The expense for Shuniah’s mayor and councillors is also to rise to $142,000, or by about 11 per cent.
On the plus side, the cost of the township’s OPP policing contract is projected to come down — $602,000 compared to $609,000 in 2023, according to the municipality’s draft budget document. Administrative costs are set to drop significantly to $875,000 from $1.1 million last year, the document says.
The 2024 budget, if passed, is also to include $25,000 to drill a new well at the MacGregor Recreation Centre’s rink shack, and an “additional” $35,000 to remove asbestos from the McTavish recreation centre demolition.
In 2023, property taxes in Shuniah rose by just under three per cent. That will seem cheap to Gillies Township property owners, who got dinged with a 26-per-cent increase last year.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Thunder Bay is proposing to raise property taxes in the city by 5.5 per cent. Following reviews and community feedback, city council is set to pass its budget on Feb. 12.
A public meeting about the city’s proposed budget hosted by city manager Norm Gale is to take place Thursday at the Victoria Inn at 6 p.m.
The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative
