Sarnia taxpayers are facing a possible tax hike of more than five per cent in 2014.

Several factors are to blame, including the decline of the city’s manufacturing base, loss of gambling revenue and changing demographics.

The projected rate sits at 5.3 per cent and the fallout from that could be vast.

An arena may have to close as early as next spring to stop the losses at parks and recreation facilities.

It’s no surprise to hockey mom April Lepore, who says keeping her son in the game is a financial penalty.

“It’s been a struggle in terms of the cost so we've been looking for other places to help pay for my son to play hockey.”

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley blames shrinking profits from recycling due to less demand, along with the decline in the manufacturing base with plant closures.

And there are other issues, he says, “We're all getting hit with heavy increases in insurance. Municipalities are usually named in every action that goes on and, for example, in our police budget, there's an over 60 per cent increase in the cost of insurance.”

The loss of slots revenue from Hiawatha Horse Park is another big hit. In its heyday it was raking in $2.2 million per year that went straight into city coffers. There's no lever you can pull that can bring back those types of winnings.

The proposed tax increase works out to roughly $41 a year for every $100,000 on assessed value of a home.

“Pretty soon I’m going to retire. I’ve got four years to go. This is going to be terrible. I’ve got to sell my house. With my pension, I cannot afford to keep my house,” says Umberto Taglione.

Lepore hasn’t had an increase in pay at her job in 12 years but everything else is increasing, she says.

“Like our gas, water, hydro and now with taxes, I'm not sure how that will be manageable.”

Bradley says he's hoping to shave the increase to about three per cent.

“I'm not a zero tax guy because you need to keep on renewing your community, but at the same time we need to understand the public's ability to pay. And at the present time, the five per cent that's on the table is simply unacceptable.”