By Chad Ingram
Published March 30 2017
Councillors passed the 2017 budget with total spending of approximately $8.8 million approximately $4.7 million of that levied from property taxes. That represents a 7.7 per cent increase over the 2016 tax levy.
Five per cent of that tax levy increase – or about $223000 – is the result of the yearly rise in the township’s OPP bill.
That increase brings Algonquin Highlands’ OPP bill for 2017 to more than $960000.
This is the third year of five-year phase-in of a new OPP billing formula that redistributes total OPP costs throughout the province on a per-household basis. The province considers cottages to be households. Because the OPP cost increases are out of municipal control local councils opt to pass that price increase directly to taxpayers each year.
The remaining 2.7 per cent of the tax levy increase is for municipal purposes.