The Town of Renfrew might finally have the number they’re looking for as the deadline to submit the yearly tax levy gets closer.
Town council held a special meeting to look at the third draft of their 2025 town budget on Tuesday, which also came with a discussion about what to do with a one-time $462,520 credit from the province due to recent overbilling by the Ontario Provincial Police.
Treasurer Charlene Jackson suggested using the entire amount to boost cash reserves as long-term spending becomes more uncertain but would also chart out putting either half or all of the credit into the budget, which would drop the tax levy increase from 11.63% to 9.59% or 7.53%, respectively, at the cost of up to 6% added to the levy in 2026.
Councillor Jason Legris would congratulate Jackson and town staff for finding a way to get to a 7% levy but put his support behind playing the long game.
However, fellow councillor Andrew Dick would stress the need to think about the burden on taxpayers right now, saying that the steep increase in taxation in the past three years needs to be levelled off even if using the credit right away would come at a cost next year.
The group would eventually find a compromise, led by Kyle Cybulski’s suggestion to use part of the credit to round the increase on taxpayer burden to 10% while saving an estimated $350,708 for town reserves.
Councillor Cybulski’s compromise was passed narrowly by a vote of 3 to 2 ahead of the final look at the 2025 budget next week.
(written by Kasey Egan)