Kitchener Residents To Pay An Additional $76
Posted Mar 2, 2011 05:43:48 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The 2011 City of Kitchener budget is in, and residents will see a number of savings on their tax bill.
They will also see a discount on their gas bill.
Council started their final 2011 budget meeting Tuesday with a an overall rate of 5.67%, by the end of the day that had dropped to 2.54%
There is an increase to the water bill — plus the new Storm Water Management fee that will have the average homeowner shelling out an extra $76 over the year. Sanitary and sewer rates have been frozen at 2010 levels.
Mayor Carl Zehr says he is pleased with the budget process overall, and is happy that services won’t have to suffer due to budget cuts. He adds that this was a unique budget, thanks to the hotly contested storm water management fee.
That fee was initially proposed to be $126 for an average home valued at $208,000 in the city but was cut by 10% – to $121 – after 2 hours of debate. In 2010, the average household paid $68 in storm water management fees.
The Mayor, councillors and senior management staff salaries have all been frozen saving $168,000.
An operating surplus in the Tax Stabilization Reserve Fund last year made it possible for council to transfer $750,000.
Budget cuts include those to the Centre in the Square and Parking Enterprise.
On the bright side — the Arts and Culture Sector was granted an additional 220-thousand dollars — money taken from the surplus of the Economic Development Investment Fund.
