Average homeowner in Waterloo region to see regional taxes go up by $165 next year

The average homeowner in Waterloo region will see their regional tax bill rise by $165 in 2024.

That comes after regional councillors passed the 2024 operating and capital budget. Including police services, the budget is $2.1 billion. It is a 6.9 per cent increase over 2023.

The average home value is based on assessments done in 2016 by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), which reported the typical residential property in the region was assessed at approximately $407,000.

The final budget report from regional staff noted a one per cent tax rate increase generates $7 million.

Councillors started Wednesday in committee considering a 7.95 per cent increase to property taxes, which would have translated to approximately $189 for the average household for the year.

Councillors trimmed one per cent from the final budget number. The motion to pass the budget was carried unanimously.

The regional budget covers all aspects of the region including staffing, transit, police, paramedics, housing, roads and infrastructure and the various services offered.

Coun. Michael Harris, who also serves as the chair of the administration and finance committee, said the "challenges that this particular council faced were significant" with this budget.

"Rising cost inflation or a growing community, increasing service demands. Our task obviously was very clear to get to a budget that meets these challenges," Harris told Craig Norris, host of CBC K-W's The Morning Edition, in an interview Thursday morning.

"I would say after a pretty grueling day yesterday and then over the last few weeks, we did so in a fiscally responsible way while of course investing in those critical services for our community."

LISTEN | Regional Coun. Michael Harris talks about challenges in passing the 2024 regional budget:

The Morning Edition - K-W6:53Regional Coun. Michael Harris says council passed 2024 budget despite 'significant' challenges

The Region of Waterloo council passed its 2024 budget Wednesday night. Coun. Michael Harris, who also serves as chair of the administration and finance committee, talks about the challenges they faced in deciding on where to make cuts and how they settled on the 6.9 per cent increase.

Police budget 'should be rejected': Councillor

The budget for the Waterloo Regional Police Service requested more than $228 million this year. That request represented a 6.71 per cent levy increase over 2023.

Coun. Rob Deutschmann said Wednesday he didn't feel like the police service was being transparent with regional council in this budget numbers.

He said the police service wants to hire more officers, but the service hasn't kept up with the hiring targets it's already set. He said that meant the police service was able to put money not spent on new officers into reserve funds.

"This budget should be rejected and sent back to police services board. It is not doing a service to the taxpayers of the Region of Waterloo. It is not transparent and it is taking far more than they should be taking from the tax base," he said.

"We should be asking them to do better. They're not listening to us, they're not hearing us and they can do better."

Chair Karen Redman, who also chairs the police board, said the police board members take their roles "very seriously."

"We ask the hard questions and we are accountable so I think the budget before us is one worth passing," Redman said.

"Fundamental to everything the police service does as well police service board, is to make sure that everybody has safe and effective policing so they feel safe and are safe in this community and because of that, this is an investment in our community's welfare that is well worth investing in."

Coun. Doug Craig, who represents Cambridge and sits on the police board, said he took exception to the comments by Deutschmann.

"The comment about not being transparent I find very bothersome because what basically is being said is that I'm not being transparent and neither is the regional chair or Coun. [Sandy] Shantz and we're sitting here and I take exception to that," he said. 

Craig said he felt police Chief Mark Crowell clarified questions around surplus and overtime that regional councillors had during the budget process.

In the end, five councillors opposed the police budget: Deutschmann, Coun. Colleen James, Coun. Kari Williams, Coun. Chantal Huinink and Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe.