London city council recently approved a new budget for the next four years, which included a steep request from the London Police for $672 million in new funding. While this increase in funding will provide the police with much-needed support, the tab is being picked up by the city’s homeowners.
The new budget comes with a 7.5 per cent average increase in property taxes annually until 2027, with next year’s hike projected at 8.4 per cent. To compare this with other cities across the country, London is set to have the second-highest increase in property taxes, behind Toronto’s 9.5 per cent.
This has left some homeowners rethinking their own budgets, as our country’s affordability crisis and global inflation continue to take a toll on their finances.
One of these homeowners is Lisa Castelhano, an employee at Fanshawe College and a mother of two. She and her husband bought their home in 2010, and she estimates that she currently pays around $3,500 a year in property tax. Using an online estimator, she was surprised to learn that this is set to increase by over $1000 by 2027.
“I think it’s definitely something that we would have to just closely budget for,” Castelhano says. “One-thousand dollars in a year could be an activity for one of my kids, you know, a family getaway for the weekend, things like that, that we might not be able to do anymore.”
Castelhano says she expected an increase, but she questions the amount the city is asking for.
“As we deal with inflation, as an ever-growing city, there are going to be more services needed, but I feel like the percentage they’ve approved is quite high,” she says. “I think it really shows why people are deciding to live outside of the city.”
While friends of hers recently left London to move to New Brunswick in search of a lower cost of living, she says that a move like that is much harder for people with children. Still, she says, it’s not out of the question.
“It’s going to be part of our conversation of how we go about saving, what we’re saving for… if prices like this keep going up”
As unpalatable as the tax increase is, she does picture a scenario in which it would be worthwhile. This would include a noticeable return from the city in the form of better policing and safer streets, more accessible services offered, and more affordable programs for kids.
“I think I would feel like that extra money was going to a good place,” she says.
In the meantime, London homeowners can check online for estimates of what they can expect to pay over the next four years and look at how they can continue to make ends meet.
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