Barrie's 2022 budget may include a property tax hike

Barrie, Ont. -

Barrie's mayor is floating the possibility of service cuts to shave decimal points off a proposed property tax hike.

In a budget presentation Monday night, city staff recommended a tax increase of 3.73 per cent, with 0.75 per cent dedicated to infrastructure updates.

The bump would translate into an extra $167 for the average home.

Staff also endorsed increases for waste and wastewater rates that would tack on a combined $24.36 to the average annual bill.

The city's finance director calls this a "challenging" year for budget-making, with broader economic uncertainty and high inflation.

The city was also hit with a surprise $800,000 spike in insurance costs last week.

Mayor Jeff Lehman doesn't think council as a whole will be comfortable with the property tax increase as proposed and is confident it can be whittled down closer to three per cent.

Lehman feels keeping property taxes low is key to keeping the cost of housing in Barrie from spinning out of control.

But he concedes there isn't a lot of space to manoeuvre.

"Much of the room that existed over the years, council has already used up to try and keep pressure off taxpayers, especially last year in the midst of COVID," Lehman says.

The mayor says the city could reach deeper into its reserves this year, though it isn't a sustainable long-term strategy.

He floated the possibility of service cuts tied to pandemic changes at Barrie Transit.

"We're running at about 90 per cent of pre-pandemic service hours and quality, but only about 45, 50 per cent of pre-pandemic ridership," Lehman says.

"That's a big gap. We made need to look at things like that," he adds.

Lehman suggests a scale-back may make sense until key rider groups, like Georgian College students, return to campus in more significant numbers.

Councillors will next discuss the budget at a special meeting on Nov. 2, with final approval expected on Dec. 6.