Three government budgets
There is one taxpayer supporting three levels of government. The illustration shows the amount governments receive from an average household tax bill of $19,500 (Federal, Provincial, Municipal).
Of this, the municipal government receives $1,490 ($2,220 minus $730 transfer to the Province and school boards). From this $1,490 HRM provides many of the visible, day-to-day services you rely on, such as:
- Police service
- Fire & Emergency services
- Transit
- Roads/ Snow & Ice
- Garbage collection & recycling
- Recreation (parks, playgrounds, rec centres and arenas, community programs and continuing education)
- Libraries
While the income tax you pay fluctuates based on your income, property taxes - the only real source of revenue available to the municipality - does not. Similar to municipalities across the country, HRM struggles to provide hard services to communities with a relatively small portion, less than 8 per cent, of the total taxes residents pay.
Tax reform is HRM’s exciting but challenging initiative underway to see how we can best design our tax system to be as fair as possible to residents – as determined by residents.
An estimate of the annual taxes paid by an HRM household living in a typical, 3-bedroom home (2008):
Federal - $9,130 (or 46.84% of taxes paid)
Provincial - $8,880 (or 45.5% of taxes paid)
Municipal - $1,490* (or 7.6 % of taxes paid)
*$2,2200, less $730 transferred to the Province others
Based on a two-income household (with a total income of $72,900) living in a detached home assessed at $169,600 in 2008. Property taxes for education, corrections, assessment adn housing are included in the Provincial total.
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"How your municipal tax dollars are spent"
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