Windsor proposes 1.9 per cent tax increase in 2022 budget

Windsor, Ont. -

The City of Windsor’s 2022 proposed budget includes a 1.9 per cent tax increase.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, Chief Administrative Officer Jason Reynar and City Treasurer Joe Mancina presented the proposed budget on Friday. It will be considered by city council on Dec. 13, 2021.

“We are delivering results by prioritizing the needs of Windsor residents: investments in public infrastructure renewal, social services, transit, parks and recreation, and culture programing,” said Dilkens. “We are delivering for residents who have been hit hard by the global pandemic and are facing rising costs at grocery stores and gas stations by limiting our overall tax levy increase to about half the rate of inflation next year.”

City officials say the budget continues to make massive investments in Windsor’s roads, sewers, parks and social services.

The proposed property tax increase would be $59 for an average home, according to the 2016 Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assessed values.

“Even with that increase, Windsor tax payers pay approximately 20 per cent or $825 less for a detached bungalow than the average of Ontario cities with a population of 100,000 or more,” says Chief Financial Officer Joe Mancina.

Details highlighted by the City of Windsor:

• 10-year capital plan that invests $1.7 billion over the next decade in local public infrastructure renewal;
• About $280-million invested in the Human & Health Services Department, the single largest expense through the proposed 2022 Gross Operating Budget;
• $16.3 million for 2022 Transit Windsor operating subsidy and $63 million in capital spending over the next 10 years to move forward on the Transit Windsor Master Plan;
• $47 million on roads infrastructure upgrades and $510 million over 10 years;
• Over the next 10 years to invest almost $170 million in Parks & Recreation and about $26 million of that will be spent in 2022;
• Sewer infrastructure renewal of at least $51 million in 2022 and about $454 million over 10 years.