When you hear statements like this it’s important to put the statement in context. As shown below if all municipalities had the same dollar increase of $191, their percentage increases would be 4.48%, 6.72% and 10.28% for Owen Sound, Meaford and Georgian Bluffs respectively. If all municipalities had the same percentage increase of 4.48%, their dollar increases would be $191, $128 and $83 for Owen Sound, Meaford and Georgian Bluffs respectively. Owen Sound may have had a smaller percentage increase but what hits taxpayers in the pocketbook is the dollar increase which has not been lower than our neighbours.

So the next time you hear the Mayor proudly announce that Owen Sound has the lowest tax increase you will know that he is only talking about the percentage increase and not the dollar tax increase which hits all of us in the pocket book.

We are facing a serious problem of continually growing taxes and expenses. By my calculations, as shown in the trend graph above, expenses will grow by $11 million over the next six years and taxes will grow by 17.2% during this time if Council does not start to aggressively address this problem this year. Owen Sound taxpayers cannot afford to give the Mayor another 13 years to solve this problem. I urge the Mayor to READ MY REPORT and make substantial changes in the 2024 budget to begin the process of tax reductions.

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This year Council is likely to ignore the facts and approve a 2024 budget with an increase of 3.4%. This is about 2.4% higher than last year’s tax increase. Georgian Bluffs is considering a 4.82% tax increase for 2024. Based on the impact this has to taxpayers, this is equivalent to a 2.1% tax increase to Owen Sound taxes. As illustrated by the above graph, if Owen Sound Council approves a 3.4% tax increase and Georgian Bluffs approves a 4.82% increase, it will take 67 years to achieve tax parity with Georgian Bluffs. To correct our current high tax situation Council should impose a tax reduction of 2% in 2024. If they do and keep this reduction in the following years we will achieve tax parity with Georgian Bluffs in only 12 years. Tell Council to Send the 2024 Budget back for Serious Reductions.