2024 budget and 4.5% property tax increase approved for Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon

The 2024 budget has been approved for Peel Region, encompassing the cities of Mississauga, Brampton and the town of Caledon.

The budget, which includes investments of $5.9 billion into community housing, infrastructure, police, paramedics, seniors services, and social programs, will come with a 4.5% property tax hike in order to fund these investments.

The budget was approved at a regional council meeting on Thursday, Dec. 7, where dozens of paramedics brought forward concerns that the planned Peel split will cause a shortage of paramedics and jeopardize emergency medical services.

Some of the budget’s biggest investments include:

• Funding to add 135 uniformed officers, 96 civilian professionals, and 10 cadets to Peel Regional Police
• Housing subsidies: $5.4 million to help 500-700 more eligible households receive subsidies and/or supports
• Enabling the development of an initial 100 community and/or supportive housing units with non-profit partner(s), with a $71 million capital investment in the Non-Profit Housing Development Program
• Over $1 billion in capital investments to support the Province’s new housing target, including $459.6 million for wastewater collection main replacement and construction, and $272.5 million for expansion of Water Resource Recovery Facilities
• $117 million for road construction, intersection improvements, and active transportation
• Adding 36 paramedics and three 24/7 ambulances to Peel Paramedics
• An increase of $60.6 million to expand the affordability program of lowering child care fees, and expanding by 11,980 child care spaces to underserved communities

The full details of the budget are available at Peel Region’s website.

“The 2024 Budget maintains vital services and makes key infrastructure investments while ensuring the challenges that our community is facing are a top priority,” said Regional Chair Nando Iannicca.

Iannicca says the budget invests responsibly in core services and promotes community safety.

With the budget to go into effect in 2024, property tax will increase by 4.5 per cent and is expected to contribute an annual increase to the typical residential property and commercial/industrial property tax bills of $247 and $435 respectively.

The average home will see an increase to their utility bill of 21¢ per day (or $78 per year), while the average commercial/industrial property will see an increase of 22¢ per day (or $82 per year).

While the budget was formed under the belief that 2024 would be Peel Region’s final year before being split into three single-tier municipalities, recent reports indicate that Ontario premier Doug Ford has been considering scrapping Peel’s dissolution.

Brampton mayor Patrick Brown has gone on record several times over the past few weeks to say the split is bad for taxpayers, referencing a report that alleges it would come with a 38 per cent tax hike for taxpayers.

“It’s never the wrong time to make the right decision,” Brown said on Wednesday. “[…] when we have our key first responders saying lives are at risk, that should cause people to rethink this.”

Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who has pushed for the split since the beginning, expressed disappointment at Ford potentially reversing his decision, and called Mayor Brown’s tax hike warning a “desperate attempt” to stop the split.

“I’m not sure why Mayor Brown is trying to distract from the work… it seems to be a desperate attempt to derail a process that is well in hand,” Crombie said earlier this week.

“There are 170 single-tier municipalities in the province of Ontario – there’s no reason why the fourth-largest city and the third-largest city need to be coupled together,” she said.

At this time, it has not been confirmed by the province that any decision has been made to walk back Peel’s dissolution.

With files from Ryan Rumbolt