Unpacking the Tantramar budget: tax rates up in LSDs, down slightly in town and village
If anyone thought that the amalgamation of a town, a village and three different local service districts (or parts thereof) would simplify things, a peek into the budgeting process might change their mind.
On January 6, the province finally provided Tantramar staff with a budget document outlining overall revenues and expenses for the amalgamated municipality. At the time, Mayor Andrew Black called the document ‘incomplete’ because it lacked any detail about how the numbers would break down among the former entities, including naming which former municipality would have which tax rate.
The document was created by transition facilitator Chad Peters and approved by local government minister Daniel Allain, and includes five different tax rates, though it took a further request to the department of local government to determine which area will pay which rate.
It turns out that rates in Tantramar will either go up or slightly down for 2023, depending on where you live:
The former town of Sackville and village of Dorchester will both see their rates go down slightly, with a less than 1% difference. That doesn’t mean those folks will pay the same in taxes, because on average, assessments in both Sackville and Dorchester have gone up significantly, by just over 10% in Sackville and just under 15% in Dorchester village.
