The average Delta home will pay $96 more in property taxes and utilities this year.
Delta council endorsed the civic charges Monday, which will see property taxes rise by 2.75 per cent and flat rate utility bills jump by 3.5 per cent.
The tax hike works out to an extra $61 for a home assessed at $926,500. The charges break down to $11 more for government services, $6 for police services, $11 for the drainage program and $33 toward the future emergency operations centre and fire hall at Boundary Bay Airport.
The flat rate utility bill for water, sewer, garbage and recycling services has climbed to $1,035, up from $1,000 last year. According to staff, the utility rate budget drivers include an increase to Delta's water purchase rate, the Metro Vancouver sewer levy as well as the waste recyclables and yard waste collection services contract.
The $96 figure doesn't include what Delta has to collect for other taxing authorities, such as TransLink.
Delta's financial plan for 2018 to 2021 anticipates property tax increases to be less than 2.5 per cent per year. The average home would see a combined increase of about $75 each year for property taxes and flat utility fees.
The capital plan, meanwhile, continues with the policy of no new borrowing and pay-as-yougo funding.
Mayor Lois Jackson and CAO George Harvie boasted about the policy at a recent economic development breakfast in North Delta, noting that back in 2001 Delta's debt was $58 million but the municipality will be debt free by next year.
