Cornwall 2020 budget starts with 2.72% average increase; talks start today

(Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

CORNWALL – Cornwall’s 2020 budget talks start today (Monday) and councillors will be looking at a draft budget with an overall residential tax increase of 2.72 per cent.

For a homeowner with a home valued at nearly $174,000 that would be an extra $68 a year. That increase may be slightly more or less depending on the value of your home and your assessment.

The budget stands to collect $74.9 million in taxes — almost 1.5 per cent or $1 million more than in 2019.

The cost of operations funded by taxes are up almost 2 per cent while the amount of capital work funded by taxes is down almost 21 per cent.

Part of those operations include servicing debt – the city is carrying about $22.5 million in long term debt and is approved to borrow almost $20 million more for big ticket projects. There’s another $12 million in debt in this year’s budget.

CFO Tracey Bailey will present the budget highlights today when talks get underway at 2:30 p.m. at city hall.

Talks will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday at the same time.