The City of Thunder Bay has released its proposed 2023 budget and it looks like the biggest tax increase in recent years. The proposed budget is increasing the tax levy by 6.18 percent (just under 6 percent after tax base growth) which will raise the total tax levy by nearly 13 million dollars and bring the total tax levy to over 220 million dollars. As the accompanying figure shows, this will be the largest tax increase since at least 2015 and probably since 2006. In terms of tax levy increases for the 1991 to 2023 period, since 1991, Thunder Bay tax levy increases have ranged from a high of almost 22 percent in 1998 to a low of -1.7 percent in 1995. If enacted, this proposed levy increase will be the fifth highest since 1991. The current Mayor campaigned on keeping the tax increase low and reduce bureaucracy but this proposed budget comes apparently with an additional 50 full time equivalent employees. With inflation running at over 6 percent, the proposed budget comes pretty close to the inflation rate which is not unexpected as signals to this effect have been ongoing for months. However, one suspects the Mayor will at least make an effort at vocal displeasure at this increase given that it is the fifth highest increase since 1991, the highest increase in nearly twenty years and he was the mayor from 1997 to 2003 which means he was also in office as the Mayor during the highest levy increase in the 1991 to 2023 period. A legacy associated with some of the highest tax increases in Thunder Bay's municipal fiscal history is not something the mayor probably is interested in. The reaction of the rest of council and the public will be key. These are of course very preliminary numbers and reaction on my part and the full budget has yet to be posted on the city web site at the time of writing but will take a look at the details in coming days.
