Tax hike of nearly 2% coming to Brampton on top of increase from Region of Peel

The city has officially passed its budget for the upcoming year bringing in a nearly 2 per cent tax hike on top of an already-approved increase from the Region of Peel.

Brampton City Council rubber-stamped the 2024 budget on Wednesday which will see a 1.9 per cent tax increase for Brampton residents on the city’s portion of their property tax bills.

The increase will mean an additional $118 per household on top of the 4.5 per cent tax increase already approved by the Region of Peel, but lower than September’s 3.8 per cent rate in inflation and lower than Mississauga’s increase for 2024.

The 2024 budget is the first since Ontario introduced controversial “Strong Mayor” rules, which leaves mayors of municipalities under the legislation responsible for proposing the municipal budget.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said his first budget under the new rules focuses on health care, transit, recreation, community safety, environment, roads and infrastructure projects.

“This budget demonstrates our commitment to building the Brampton advantage,” the mayor said in a release. “This is a budget for jobs, for families, for recreation, for transit, for health care, and for community safety.”

The increase comes following several years of frozen taxes in Brampton, a decision the mayor championed in his first term until council introduced a 1 per cent tax levy for the Peel Memorial Hospital project just months after saying there would be no tax hikes. That levy will remain on the books this year.

Budget documents show the city’s operating and capital budgets come to around $913 million and $544 million respectively and includes a $139 million contribution to reserves, $78.4 million for the purchase and upkeep of Brampton Transit buses, 136 new transit operators adding 108,000 service hours, and $3.8 million for the expansion of Züm service.

As for the regional budget, Brampton residents will see a 4.5 per cent property tax hike for an approximate increase of $247 and $435 on property tax bills for residential properties and commercial/industrial properties respectively.

The average home in Brampton will also 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).