Cumberland Hikes Taxes in Challenging Budget

Cumberland Council spent the last few weeks trying to shave two million dollars from its proposed budget for 2018-19, but in the end, council had to raise taxes to make ends meet.

The budget was approved this evening with a 13 cent hike in both the residential and commercial rates.Homeowners will pay$1.17 per 100 dollars of assessment. The business community tax rate is now $2.76.

The County Warden says, “Most municipalities are facing significant fiscal challenges.” Al Gillis added, “Now is the time to deal with those challenges.”

The county’s operating budget stands at $29.47 million, while capital spending is projected at $9.99 million. Council also approved a further capital spending of $14.8 million over the next five years.

Gillis said, “We have annual increases in costs that exceed our revenues. We have underfunded reserve funds, our assessment increases are less than previous years, and we have to replace our infrastructure.”

The budget did not sit well with one councillor. District 8 representative, Ernie Gilbert of Southampton, was the lone nay vote.

The county has been able to hold the tax rate over the last ten years, but the challenges listed by the Warden present like a perfect storm, a storm that is evident for municipalities across the province. The Town of Oxford raised its tax rate earlier this week, three cents for residential ratepayers, and 6.5 cents for commercial interests. A week earlier, the Village of Pugwash raised its tax rates by three cents for both residential and commercial.

Gillis says the municipality faces on-going challenges and council cannot rule out future tax rate increases.

For those with an average residential assessment of $93,734, the tax hike means about ten dollars per month. Wherever you fit on the tax scale, the bills will go out in June and will be payable by July 15 (actually the 16th to allow for the Sunday due date).