With the approval of Niagara’s regional budget, residents of Niagara-on-the-Lake can expect higher taxes. 

In a media release, the region outlined a levy increase of $46 million, equalling an estimated 9.6 per cent increase in the levy.

“For the average home in the Niagara region this would equate to an approximate $191 increase on the regional portion of the property tax bill,” the release said. 

Regional coun. Andrea Kaiser said NOTLers can expect more than this.

Kaiser used the example of policing cost per household to illustrate how much more NOTLers can expect to pay.

Most cities in the region have policing costs ranging between $300 to $400 per household, Kaiser said.

“Based on assessment, Niagara-on-the-Lake is at $786,” she said.

Kaiser was satisfied with allocations outlined in the capital budget, including several infrastructure investments. 

But Kaiser was not in support of the operating budget, she said. 

“It’s due to expenses that I deem to be ones that we should be examining to reduce the levy for residents of all of the region,” Kaiser told The Lake Report. 

There is very little wiggle room for what councillors can do to reduce the budget, but one thing that can be done is reducing discretionary spending, she said. 

Incentive grants were included in the budget and are not on par with the regional growth Niagara is experiencing, Kaiser said. 

“We had a study done that shows these grants are not doing the work they are supposed to do,” she said. 

The taxpayer can look at an increase of around two per cent per household. 

“Some councillors are ignoring the math.”

If councillors were to get rid of tax incentive grants right now, residents would have a two per cent tax reduction, she said. 

“It’s pretty substantial,” Kaiser said. 

Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa was in agreement with Kaiser, he said in an interview.

“Coun. Kaiser and I have taken some exception with some of the grants that do not align with councils strategic priorities, that would be housing and affordability,” Zalepa said.

“I would have liked to see those discontinued even with a phase out period, but council didn’t choose that,” he said.

Kaiser has a motion prepared for the NOTL council meeting scheduled for Jan. 28, 2023. 

“(The motion) will hopefully address the same kind of scale that’s going to be (used) in Niagara-on-the-Lake for the general levy as well,” she said.

Coun. Gary Burroughs has several concerns surrounding the budget, including impact on the taxpayer and what this budget could mean for NOTL council. 

“My concern is the amount is less than staff are recommending for local council,” Burroughs said in an interview.

Burroughs said he hopes Kaiser and Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa being on regional council will help NOTL.

“Regional budgets are passed down to local municipalities by assessment and because we’re the third highest after St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, any increase will impact our local taxpayer,” he said. 

There is a lack of representation on regional council impacts NOTL, Burroughs said. 

“The need for a family and housing budget, we don’t benefit from that, there’s no projects in Niagara-on-the-Lake. And police, our share of the police budget was higher than our total local budget,” he said. 

The Glendale project is going to increase NOTL’s share of the regional budget too, Burroughs said. 

“(It is) going to make our residents pay more of that high regional budget. Every time it increases you can bet, coming down the road as Glendale takes place, we are going to pay more and more,” he said.

Burroughs said a focus on infrastructure will not to NOTL much good either. 

The capital budget boasts $100 million for infrastructure upgrades to support major industrial investments.

“They’re not doing an awful lot in Niagara-on-the-Lake,” he said. 

“They’re not taking into account what residents want.”

Zalepa said the capital budgets funding to infrastructure will help with a number of smaller projects in NOTL.

“It’s actually quite extensive, mostly it’s around roads, bridge repairs, culverts,” he said.

He added that the regional budget addresses a lot of services that residents may not be familiar with but are important nonetheless.

“We’re looking at housing, dealing with homelessness and pressures around affordability, there’s a lot of regional effort at work there and not everybody always sees that but they are important to society,” he said.