Mayor David Miller announced today that he would lower the proposed residential tax increase to 2.9 per cent from 4 per cent.
The move comes after Mr. Miller announced that through more accurate year-end accounting, the city will have a budget surplus more than $100-million than originally forecast.
Mr. Miller said the city’s surplus from 2009 turned out to be $350-million, including $31-million in strikes savings.
“The growth in the surplus comes from many areas,” he said, including cost containment, wage restraint and higher than expected investment returns.
According to the mayor, the reduced tax hike would save an average of $23 per household, based on a city average of $400,000 home cost.
Excerpt from the Globe and Mail
