Residents in the small northern Ontario township of Fauquier-Strickland are facing a possible 80 per cent property tax increase this year as the community works to dig itself out of a financial deficit.
At a council meeting on Tuesday, Craig Davidson, a consultant brought in to help the community, proposed the tax hike as a way for the community of around 500 people to cover a $2.5-million operating deficit and retain its six employees.
On July 29 the province offered the municipality $300,000 on the condition council approve a new budget by Aug. 31.
At the council meeting Davidson said he was only given six hours to put together a budget for the municipality.
“I remembered yesterday that there was $300,000 [from the province],” he said.
In early July, Fauquier-Strickland Mayor Madeleine Tremblay said the municipality would need to shut off services like garbage collection by Aug. 1 if the province didn’t intervene with financial support.
At that time, council also proposed a tax increase of up to 200 per cent to pay off the municipality’s deficit and cover basic services.
But Davidson’s proposal for an 80 per cent increase instead wasn’t well received by residents.
“They’re trying to put a budget through that nobody can afford,” said Donald Armstrong, who attended the council meeting on Tuesday.
Armstrong noted that a majority of people in the small community are retired and on fixed incomes.
He said he’s been trying to sell his home, but that fell through when news about Fauquier-Strickland’s financial troubles broke.
“So now me and my wife are stuck here because we can’t sell the house,” Armstrong said. “Nobody wants to move into a municipality that’s literally on the verge of bankruptcy.”
Alan and Dawn Gosnay moved to Fauquier-Strickland in December, attracted by the lower housing costs and an opportunity to live closer to their grandchildren.
By the time the new year rolled around, Alan Gosnay said their property taxes went from around $2,300 a year to $5,600.
Gosnay said another tax hike on top of what he’s already paying would be devastating.
“They might as well take a bulldozer to the town,” he said, frustrated with the municipality’s financial situation.
Community members are planning a meeting Wednesday night to discuss possible solutions and bring new questions to council before the budget vote.
Tammy Daigle has lived in Fauquier-Strickland for 33 years and is one of the meeting’s organizers.
“We’re often shut down with questions and when we ask questions, they’re overlooked,” she said.
Daigle said an 80 per cent tax increase would make it impossible for her and her husband to retire anytime soon.
My husband, he’s on sick leave right now waiting for surgery, but he was going into retirement and this changes that plan,” she said.
