Francine Bastien
Property valuation, revenues, expenses, are all going up in Town of Brome Lake this year, except the mill rate. It went from 0.615 to 0.42 cents (per $100 valuation) on residential and agricultural properties. The reduction in the mill rate means that about a third of property owners will see a decrease in their property tax bill, but most will see increases. The taxation rates on non-residential, industrial and vacant lots are also going down.
Other services (tariffs) such as sewage and garbage collection are increasing so over all the tax bill is on the increase on average by 4% this year. This was Mayor Richard Burcombe’s 12th and last budget. In November, a new council will be voted in.
On the expenses side of the ledger, general administration costs went up by 11.3% to reach $2,985,000. The cost of public safety shot up too with the SQ now charging the Town $2,700,000 for services many consider to be practically non-existent.
On the revenues side, again this year, the welcome tax contributed $1,800,000 to the public treasury, $400,000 more than last year.
Since 2019, the cost of the long-term debt is rising to reach $25,255,000 in 2025 a jump of more than $3,674,000 since last year due in part to higher interest rates.
3-year plan forecast
A new fire station, the reconstruction of Fulford Road, a downtown Knowlton facelift, new pickle ball courts and drinking water search and improvement are all on the radar screen for the next three years for a grand total of $16,000,000. Many of these projects depend on provincial grants, and, who knows what the priorities of the new Council will be like.
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