Why have my property taxes not decreased as a result of North Perth's recent growth?

We began the 2019 North Perth budget process by issuing a Pre-Budget Online Survey to collect input from our citizens on what they wanted to see in the municipal budget. Many survey respondents asked why they had not witnessed a decrease in their property taxes when North Perth has experienced such significant growth in recent years. They felt that with the increased assessment base and population, property taxes should have decreased as there are more taxpayers to share the tax burden.

Although new growth does bring additional assessment, it requires additional resources and infrastructure (short-term and long-term) to be provided by the Municipality.

For example, when new subdivisions, streets and sidewalks are built, more snow plowing and snow plows are needed to service new areas. As well, when our population increases, there are more people using our libraries, recreation facilities, roads and other services.

To meet the needs of our growing population and remain efficient, the Municipality has also invested tax dollars and development charges in multiple capital assets in recent years. Examples of these assets include the Perth Line 86/Mitchell Road South roundabout, new Monkton Fire Hall, the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex and the Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrades.

Capital assets are expensed over time in equal annual expenditures and impact the operating budget. This spreads the cost of the asset over a period of time, usually the asset's useful life, and measures how much an asset's value has been used up at a given point in time. This practice is a key part of asset management and helps us track, monitor and plan for our future needs and expenses.

Like most municipalities in Ontario, North Perth is also adjusting to past cuts to our Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) allocation. OMPF is the primary funding source provided by the Province to municipalities. Due to past cuts to our OMPF allocation (since 2005, we have seen our allocation decrease by just over $630,000), we've needed to find revenues elsewhere to cover the shortfall in order to maintain service levels.