It was a marathon budget session Tuesday night for city council, but by early Wednesday morning London had a 2014 draft budget.
The city will likely see a tax increase of 3.2 per cent or an additional $77 to the average London homeowner.
However, Mayor Joe Fontana tells CTV News he’s still “not satisfied” with where the tax line is and hopes a lower rate can be obtained by Thursday when the budget will be finalized.
"Listen, you know what my commitment was. I delivered zero, zero, then last year I pivoted to economic development - 3.2 is a bigger number than I ever expected," Fontan says.
London police will be getting a 2.9 per cent increase to their operating budget, plus an additional one-time payment of $900,000. Chief Brad Duncan says he’s not happy with the increase, but believes layoffs can be avoided by dipping into reserves.
The city is also hoping to ignite industrial growth with a 0.9 per cent increase for economic development. The investment will see $4.2 million a year put towards developing land along the Highway 401/402 corridor.
Fontana may be chiefly concerned about the impact a hefty tax hike could have on his re-election bid, since he took office on a campaign that included a four-year tax freeze.
After two years of tax freezes and a hike of 1.2 per cent last year, Fontana says the 3.2 per cent increase is "Way too much for me. So I will have to reflect upon that commitment that I made."
Fontana suggests members of the public who may be unhappy with the tax increase should contact their ward councillor before Thursday, but there is little time left for the public to weigh in or for council to come up with better solutions before the deadline.
Council will meet again Thursday night to finalize the budget.
While it is normally an opportunity to clear up any technical issues and rubber stamp the work already done, it remains to be seen if the mayor or others on council attempt some last minute changes.
