Mayor's Report
Where your tax dollars going
By Marolyn Morrison

It's that time of year again - budget talks have everyone at Town Hall consumed. As the Town moved into an era of being debt free, I am anxious to learn of community requests and staff recommendations. Being debt-free is very important to the well being of our municipality and I will work hard along side our members of council to maintain this status while providing you with the necessary services.

I would like to share with you, the taxpayer, where your taxes go and how they are being used. In 2006 the average home in Caledon was assessed at $361,000 and they paid $3,380.57 in property taxes. Assessed values of homes are set by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), which is an independent body of the provincial government.

The Region of Peel takes 41% of the property taxes collected. They provide services (waste management, sewer and water, regional roads, human resources, public health, social housing, ambulance, police, and seniors' housing) for Caledon, Brampton and Mississauga. That means the average assessed home in Caledon pays the Region $1,249.51 for these services.

The interesting part of this portion of your taxes is that the average assessed home gives the City of Toronto $151.29 to help them deliver their social services and assisted housing programs. That is right folks, Caledon residents are paying to support residents in Toronto. At the Region, we like to refer to this as the "Toronto Tax," but it is more familiarly known as GTA pooling. All GTA municipalities help support the City of Toronto. This is something that the Region of Peel has been adamantly opposing to the province.

Last year alone, Caledon gave the City of Toronto approximately $3 million for pooling. This money would go a long way in repairing our infrastructure or building a new recreational facility.

The average assessed taxpayer in Caledon also supports the school boards (public or separate) and pays approximately 28% or $953.04 to the province for this service.

So that will the leave the average assessed home paying $1,026.72 in property taxes to the Town of Caledon. That money is broken down per department/service that we provide as follows: Public Works & Engineering ($396.32), Fire Protection & Prevention ($182.76), Recreation & Property Services ($113.97, Planning & Development ($97.54), Library Board ($75.98), Governance & Administration ($43.08), Corporate Services ($33.89), Building & enforcement ($32.86), Human Resources ($29.78), and Economic Development & Communications ($20.54).

We will continue to work hard to balance your taxes collected with the services you receive.

Next week, I will share with you more on our budgeting process and exactly where your commercial property taxes go. Fiscal responsibility is the name of the game.