LONDON, ONT -- The city has put its multi-year budget to bed setting the direction for its finances for the next four years.
Not everybody was happy with the finished product delivered at Monday’s city council meeting after the multi-year budget will leave a 4.4 per cent tax hike for homeowners this year.
The budget also comes with an average increase of 3.9 per cent of the next four years.
Budget chair Josh Morgan says plans are already in the works to shift some of the tax load away from homeowners.
"If we apply the same tax policy and the education rates come in the same way that they came in last year that number for residential homeowners will be closer to 2.6 per cent,” said Morgan.
Arielle Kayabaga made one last push to restore for the library's wifi hotspot lending program, which councillors turned down.
Four councillors voted against the budget, one of whom was ward 6 Councillor Phil Squire who felt council shouldn't be absorbing provincial programs.
"We provided extra funding to Museum London. We provided extra funding in the area of conservation authorities. So, it was an area where we just kept saying if the province isn't going to fund an area, we're going to fund it, and i think that's probably the wrong approach,” said Squire.
Despite concerns there was no talk of reducing funding programs directed to affordable housing and homelessness.
"To the credit of this council, they decided to make some of those really serious decisions now. Some $63-million in homelessness and housing,” said Mayor Ed Holder.
Now that the budget has passed the work will begin to start pressing the province and the federal government to help fund some of these programs.
