Prescott council is aiming for an increase of less than four percent to your property tax rates going into 2024.
At Monday night’s council meeting, the town officially began its budget process for next year.
Mayor Gauri Shankar directed town staff to prepare the budget aiming for an increase of 3.68 percent or less, the same amount that the rate increased last year.
Matt Armstrong, Prescott’s Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, said he thinks that’s a realistic target.
His only concerns, he said, involve increases that need to be made in the town’s water and wastewater budgets.
The cost of running Prescott’s wastewater treatment plant is rising by more than $100,000 this year, according to Armstrong’s presentation to council.
“There was a period of roughly ten to fifteen years where the [water and wastewater] rates were not increased,” Armstrong said, “and while that is commendable from a cost containment perspective, it does tend to not provide any buffer when you go forward.”
Other areas where the town is set to spend more money than last year include its contribution to “Joint Services” like the Leeds Grenville Paramedic Service, and to the St. Lawrence Lodge long-term care home.