Saint John is proposing a four-cent tax rate reduction as part of its $187-million budget for 2024.
If approved by council, the residential rate would drop to $1.58 per $100 of assessed value.
Non-residential and heavy industrial properties would see a 6.8-cent reduction to $2.686.
Members of council’s finance committee got their first look at the draft budget on Wednesday.
“A budget that balances the city’s approved strategic plans, master plans, long-term plans, while being conscientious of the inflationary pressures that are being placed on the taxpayer,” chief financial officer Kevin Fudge told the committee.
With the four-cent tax rate reduction, the city would have reduced its municipal tax rate by 20.5 cents over the last three years, said Fudge.
The proposed $187-million budget includes an extra $10.5 million in spending compared to 2023. Fudge said the 5.9 per cent increase is slightly higher than inflation.
Some of the highlights in the budget include:
- Setting aside $3 million in reserves for a proposed new recreation facility
- Increasing the Saint John Transit subsidy by $1.02 million, or 18.13 per cent
- Boosting funding and reallocating existing staff to enhance mowing and street cleaning
- Adding a recreation coordinator for the city’s east side, which some councillors had asked for
- Funding for three additional bylaw enforcement officers as part of a pilot program
- Transferring an additional $500,000 into capital reserves to fund a future roundabout in the city
- Earmarking a total of $558,000 for the city’s industrial parks
Fudge said the city’s residential customers are shouldering all of the $8.47-million increase in property tax revenues due to tax rate cuts.
Residential property tax revenue is expected to increase by nearly $8.5 million, while non-residential and heavy industrial combined will see a net decrease of $22,640.
Meanwhile, staff are proposing no increases for flat rate or metered water customers. That means the flat rate would remain at $1,428 per year for the sixth straight year.
Overall revenues are projected to increase by $1.65 million to $44.3 million, with meter revenue being the biggest driver.
No new debt is planned for 2024 as Saint John Water continues its efforts to pay down existing debt.
The utility will have paid down $44.58 million in debt over the past seven years, a nearly 42 per cent reduction based on the $107.4-million debt level as of 2017.
City staff said revenue growth through infills and new commercial businesses is critical for the sustainability of rate stabilization.
Finance committee members will vote on both budgets at their next meeting on Nov. 22, with council not expected to approve it until Dec. 11.
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