As the newly appointed Vice Chair of the Budget Committee at the City of Markham, I would like to encourage you to stay informed and up-to-date on the series of budget meetings that officially began last week and is scheduled to continue over the coming weeks, with the goal of finalizing the budget for 2023 in March.  

In the wake of 30 year highs in inflation, a looming recession, and unprecedented legislative changes, the City’s proposed tax rate of 6.4% represents a combination of fiscally prudent and strategic planning as well as forward-looking conservative provisioning for major funding challenges that lie ahead, particularly from the Bill 23 More Homes Built Faster Act that was passed by the Province in late 2022.

Bill 23 has an over $1 Billion financial impact over 10 years to the City of Markham, restricting the City’s ability to collect development charges resulting in less money for the City to build parks, roads, trails, community centres and libraries.

To ensure the City is made whole from this loss of revenue that is geared to build complete communities, the City of Markham would either have to significantly raise property taxes, curtail the amount of community amenities, or a combination of both. Of the 6.4% increase proposed in 2023, Markham is looking to account for a small portion (2%) of this on the tax rate in 2023, but are provisioning for further tax increases for the next three years related to Bill 23. Council and Staff are still awaiting the final regulations on Bill 23, and will be in a better position to determine the projected impact once more details are available. 

Council and Staff will continue their efforts to keep tax rate increases at a reasonable level over the next four years.

I would like to encourage everyone to attend the Budget Public Consultation on March 9 at 7-9pm. For more information, please visit: https://pub-markham.escribemeetings.com/?Year=2023.