Chatham-Kent homeowners will be paying just under 5 per cent more in taxes in 2025.
CK’s council met on Wednesday and approved next year’s budget.
The tax increase is officially set at 4.99 per cent which means households will be paying an additional $100 per $100,000 of their property's current assessed value.
At one point during the year, homeowners were looking at a potential 9.4 per cent increase. It was lowered to 5.96 per cent ahead of budget talks as CK’s administration found millions of dollars in savings. This included getting rid dust control services which was costing the municipality roughly $1.3 million a year.
On the first day of budget talks, two motions from Councillor Anthony Ceccacci lowered the increase to 5.09 per cent.
A motion on the second day of budget talks from Councillor Ryan Doyle officially lowered the increase to 4.99 per cent. He requested $250,000 be taken from the Corporate Severance for Frustrated Contracts Reserve to help reduce the tax burden.
Councillors Lauren Anderson, Brock McGregor, Marjorie Crew, Aaron Hall, Melissa Harrigan, Jamie McGrail, and Trevor Thompson voted against the motion.
Doyle’s motion originally asked for $500,000 from reserves be used to help lower the tax rate. Ceccacci recommended $250,000 be potentially used to fund family physician incentives.
Another motion from Doyle on day two of budget talks wanted to see a combined $150,000 from four different IT reserves be used to lower the increase even more.
A vote was done for each reserve; however, they were all defeated. Doyle and fellow Councillors Michael Bondy and Rhonda Jubenville voted in favour of taking from all four reserves, while Ceccacci supported two. Everyone else voted against.
If approved, this motion would have lowered the tax increase by 0.07 per cent.
Jubenville also attempted to use over $1 million from four different reserves to help lower the tax rate. She along with Doyle, Bondy, and Ceccacci voted in favour with everyone else voting against. If approved, the increase would have dropped to 4.49 per cent.
Those who didn’t agree with the motion expressed concerns that taxpayers would be making up the difference in 2026 and that taking funds from reserves comes with risks, as they could be needed for emergencies.
Mayor Darrin Canniff has 10 days to veto any amendments made to the budget due to having strong mayor powers. He did say before approving the budget that he had no plans to change anything.