Windsor mayor proposes 2.99 per cent tax hike in 2025 budget

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Windsor property owners will pay roughly three per cent more in municipal taxes this year if city council adopts a “challenging” budget containing staff cuts tabled by Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens on Friday.

By identifying revenue sources and finding reductions — the details of which the mayor remained mum — council and city staff reduced the projected tax hike from 12.9 per cent announced in the fall to 2.99 per cent, or roughly $14.5 million.

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Asked what costs the mayor’s budget proposes to eliminate, Dilkens said, “There’s a lot of in-camera work, because it involves, in some cases, some staff reductions in certain areas. It would be unfair of me to get ahead of city council having an opportunity to read it.”

Dilkens said it “isn’t a slash-and-burn budget,” adding that there’s “no need to set off any fireworks until we get to the end of the process and understand exactly where it is that we’re going.”

If council keeps the mayor’s budget as is, the city’s operating budget will grow to $499.6 million, with an additional $312.7 million in capital spending in 2025.

Although the budget proposes to cut some jobs, it also proposes a net addition of 26 full-time positions.

Residents who wish to provide feedback on the proposed budget will be able to appear as delegates on Jan. 13, the first city council meeting of the year, and council will deliberate the proposed 2025 spending on Jan. 27.

In September, Dilkens warned Windsor property owners they could see the highest levy hike in two decades for 2025. A preliminary review of financial pressures revealed taxes could soar by nearly 13 per cent if council failed to find things to chop from the operating budget.

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That figure, which Ward 10 Coun. Jim Morrison at the time called a “jaw-dropper,” was reduced to roughly six per cent by mid-November after further staff review and work by three council budget committees set up to find savings in various city departments.

“This definitely has been, I would say, the most challenging budget through the years,” said Dilkens, who was first elected to city council in 2006 and has been mayor for a decade.

“When they came in and told me what the starting point was and the pressures, it was shocking.”

The council finance committees, which investigated spending in economic development and engineering; finance and social services; and corporate and community services, submitted recommendations for cuts, most of them discussed behind closed doors. Those recommendations will be incorporated into the mayor’s proposed budget.

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Under Ontario’s strong mayor legislation, council will have 30 days to review and amend the first budget proposed by Dilkens. Council can vote to end its review period early.

Dilkens will then have 10 days to veto any council amendments made during budget deliberations. And then council has 15 more days to overturn any mayoral vetoes with a minimum 8-3 vote.

Last year, Dilkens did not veto any of council’s amendments and adopted a budget with a 3.91 per cent property tax increase. Taxes were further increased by 0.7 per cent in May when council approved Strengthen the Core, a plan to revitalize downtown Windsor that included $3.2 million in added annual operating expenses.

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