Newmarket Council approves 2020 Budget

Newmarket Council approves 2020 budget

At Monday night’s Council meeting, the Town of Newmarket Council approved the 2020 budget. It is anticipated that this will result in an all-in (Town, York Region and School Board) tax increase of 2.39 percent (subject to tax shifting and finalized tax rates from York Region and the School Board). Based on an average property assessment value of approximately $618,750, residents will see an increase of $59.74 on their tax bill, a water/wastewater rate increase of $59.72 (4.92 percent) and a stormwater rate increase of $4.12 (10.86 percent).

The total approved 2020 Operating Budget is $134.6 million and the Capital Budget is $37.8 million, with a combined total of $172.4 million.

The most recent BMA Study found that Newmarket’s property taxes are 10.9 percent lower than the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) average. Each year, BMA Management Consulting completes a detailed municipal comparative study with all communities in the GTA and beyond as part of a comprehensive evaluation of a municipality’s financial condition.

Highlights from the 2020 budget include:

$2.4 million towards trails and active transportation

$2.2 million for the continued implementation of the Recreation Playbook (including a new skate park design and splash pad construction)

$1.3 million for new park developments

$5.4 million for the design and construction of CYFS Station 4-5

$6.6 million for road rehabilitation

$1.6 million for fleet replacement

$1 million for road resurfacing

$623,000 for theatre renovations

$300,000 to advance the Mulock Property

The Town of Newmarket continues to take a responsible and sustainable approach to asset management, with 1 percent of the Town’s portion of the tax increase or $600,000 for annual contributions to the tax-supported Asset Replacement Fund (ARF). The ARF was created in 1998 to ensure appropriate funding is available to replace and repair the Town’s $1 billion (replacement cost) worth of capital assets, both now and long into the future.

The Town engaged residents in the 2020 budget process through its online engagement tool Hey Newmarket! and via the budget game which asked residents how they would like to see their tax dollars invested by ranking the Town’s eight primary services by level of importance. The feedback captured was generally consistent with the town’s 2018 community survey, which found that 85 percent of residents surveyed felt they were receiving at least fair value for their tax dollars and user fees spent in support of town services.

The Town is currently undergoing an extensive Administrative and Service Delivery Review, known as REV it up (Revenue, Efficiencies and Value Add). The goal is to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness to better support staff, improve services for Newmarket residents and businesses and enable the Town to better support the community. The Town of Newmarket was one of 39 municipalities to receive a grant from the Province of Ontario to conduct this type of review. Any cost savings realized through the REV initiative will be considered as part of the 2021 budget process.

By working together, sharing information, ideas and being engaged in our community we can achieve great things for Newmarket.