Region of Peel approves tax increase for 2020 in Mississauga

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Published December 24, 2019 at 3:32 pm

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If you live in Brampton or Mississauga, you will see a slight uptick in your property taxes, as the Region of Peel recently approved an increase in the region’s 2020 Operating and Capital Budget. 

“Developing a budget is about maintaining and improving services, investing in people and preparing the region for the future while always respecting the taxpayer. This year, the province’s efforts to control spending resulted in a regional funding impact of $6.6 million. These cuts along with other factors, made for a challenging year,” said Regional Chair Nando Iannicca in a statement. 

“We’ve passed a 2020 budget that invests responsibly in core service levels, promotes community safety and protects the vulnerable, while also striving for efficiency to mitigate the increase to property tax bills.”

The region says the 2020 budget includes a property tax increase of 1.5 per cent. This means that home and business owners will see an increase to the typical residential property and small business property tax bills of $70 and $126 respectively.

The region originally proposed a property tax increase of 1.7 per cent, but was able to reduce it slightly.

The higher-than-usual proposed increases also caused concern amongst City of Mississauga councillors, who have held off on approving the city’s budget until next year as a result

Mississauga councillors also asked that Peel Regional Police, who account for a large portion of the budget, review their budgetary needs and look for possible reductions. 

Based on the regional budget alone, the average household will see an increase to their utility bill of 15¢ per day (or $51 per year), while the average small business will see an increase of 36¢ per day (or $132 per year).

The region says operating investments of $2.6 billion and capital investments of $1.1 billion are being made to support and advance Regional Council’s long-term vision for Peel.

Service investments in 2020 include:

  • 35 additional Peel Regional Police officers 
  • 5,600 additional paramedic response calls
  • 21,000 more accessible transportation trips
  • 900 more residents receiving affordable transit
  • Expansion of EarlyON services for 6,000 children and parents
  • Implementation of the Butterfly Model at Tall Pines to enhance the quality of life for long-term care residents
  • Maintaining the state of good repair of almost $30 billion of infrastructure including affordable housing, paramedic stations, roads, feedermain pipes and long term care homes

Along with meeting the capital and operating needs of the region, the budget provides funding to the three local conservation authorities (Credit Valley Conservation Authority, Halton Conservation Authority, and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority), Peel Regional Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. 

The impact on Mississauga taxpayers specifically will be revealed in 2020.

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