Brockville 2016 budget passes; average home will pay $12 more

BROCKVILLE – City council passed its 2016 budget Tuesday night, which will see the average homeowner’s yearly tax bill go up $12.10.

That’s based on a property valued at $223,000, so the amount of taxes a homeowner will pay will vary slightly depending on whether their property value is higher or lower than the average.

The corporation will be collecting $33,877,631 in taxes this year – 1.59 per cent more than it did in 2015.

There’s also $10 million in capital work planned for 2016.

Council wasn’t able to agree Tuesday to take over the advertising at the Memorial Center from the Brockville Braves. That would have meant $10,000 fewer dollars coming out of taxpayers’ pockets, based on Coun. Jason Baker’s proposal.

But the issue – looking for a better ad sharing deal with the hockey team – will be talked about at a later date.

Largely on the arguments of Coun. Jane Fullarton about minimizing debt and avoiding interest costs, council also decided to top up its funded portion for the $1 million Aquatarium debt by $100,000 to $468,000.

The money will come from savings after the error by the provider for city benefits – such as health, dental and life insurance – overstated the cost of benefits in 2016 by $100,000.

This will mean the city will take out a smaller loan over 10 years for the balance ($532,000).

City council also passed its $4.3 million water and $5.6 million waste water budgets.