There’s no getting around taxation and there’s never been a tax that has received acceptance. The City of Pickering is in the same situation. Complaints about the high levels of taxation seem to never end. Yet, the City is average among the many provincial cities in its taxation revenues.
Recently, the City of Pickering presented its Budget 2024 Report and made it available via the Internet, either through the City’s website ( letstalkpickering.ca/budget ) or on YouTube.
Stan Karwowski, Director of Finance-Treasurer, is the city accountant’s presentation was an excellent explanation, comprehensible, clear and concise supported by illustrations and graphics which reinforced his explanations.
In short, Pickering taxes are among the average competing favourably with the surrounding cities, other than Toronto.
Karwowski delved with many aspects of the budget:
- how assessment is based on data prepared by MPAC, (Municipal Property Assessment Commission);
- how the tax dollar is divided with its major part appropriated by the Durham region for which the City receives many services;
- the amount spent each day for services, for example the libraries receive $.47 per day, the City council is allotted $.10 per day, Fire Services $1.47 per day and Roads/Water, $1.22 per day;
- how the City budgets and manages tax funds comparing this management to a personal bank account where money in desposited this year to be used next year;
- the most serious challenges to budget: Facilities – needed new ones vs maintenance, repair of current facilities;
- the heavy impact of interest rates with examples of how minor increases in interest rates have serious impact on Capital Costs; Cost of a Fire Truck jumps from $1 million to $2 million, the Seaton Rec Complex design more than doubles from $114 mill to $243.1 million;
- the many specific areas tax income must be applied;
- the provincial and federal government financial support;
- how the city markets itself throughout the world to attract commercial businesses as this tax revenue is much greater than residential property tax revenues…but the city must compete internationally with other cities to attract these businesses;
- the City’s strategies for dealing with annual payments, debt reduction and defraying or deferring taxes;
- the Casino tax income which must be applied to infrastructure and services, not the lowering of property taxes as many residents wish or expect;
Karwowski’s presentation was a down-to-earth explanation that could easily be understood. A particular area of interest was how the City of Toronto has a unique tax revenue source which other cities in the province do not have, including Pickering. Hence, Karwowski concluded residents of Toronto pay a much lower property tax than any other city in the province.
Budgets and City finance are complicated and sophisticated information but Karwoski simplified much of the tax revenue picture into concise and understandable bits.
The City is to be commended for making the information available this way and giving its residents a clear picture of their taxation management and operation concisely and clearly.
Shauna Muir, CAO officer for the City, deserves praise for the deft management of the presentation so that it always remained in the realm of the ‘easily understood.’
