Toronto mayor’s finalized budget keeps 6.9 per cent property tax hike in tact but expands relief for seniors, people with disabilities

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is shown during a press conference on Jan. 30, where she announced her finalized version of the city's budget for 2025.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is opting to keep a proposed 6.9 per cent property tax increase in tact but expand tax relief measures for seniors and those living with disabilities as part of her finalized budget for 2025.

In a news release issued Thursday, Chow’s office said after hearing “feedback through the budget consultation process,” the decision was made to increase the property tax deferral and cancellation income threshold by five per cent to $60,000 for seniors and people with disabilities.

Chow’s office said this move will support an additional 2,300 households, bringing the total number of people eligible for tax relief to 13,000. Those residents will also qualify for water rebate and solid waste rebate programs, the release noted.

The budget, which was released earlier this month, includes a 5.4 per cent property tax hike in addition to the annual 1.5 per cent hike to the city building fund, which is a levy designed to help fund critical infrastructure projects.

This means taxpayers would see their bills increase by 6.9 per cent or about $268.37 a year on the average home with an assessed value of $692,031.

Taxpayers will also see 3.75 per cent increases to water and garbage fees as part of the budget.

The money, Chow said previously, will be used to employ more first-responders, expand food programs, and hire more apartment inspectors to ensure rental units are in a state of good repair.

Chow also previously announced that the 2025 TTC budget would freeze fares for a second year in a row. Money will also be allotted to hire more traffic wardens in an effort to ease congestion in the city.

“The City budget is always about choices and, as Mayor, I refuse to avoid the hard ones. We must choose to fix what’s broken,” Chow said in a letter to city council.

“We must choose to address a decade of neglect and work to build a better life for Torontonians – to build a city that is more caring, affordable, and safe, where everyone belongs."

Not all members of council support Chow’s proposed tax hike, including Coun. Brad Bradford, who told CP24 Thursday that the budget “really sticks it to the middle class in Toronto.”

“I would have expected Mayor Chow to take that feedback that I am sure she has heard, that people cannot afford a tax increase that is triple the rate of inflation right now, and reflect that into her revised budget,” he said.

A special meeting of Toronto City Council will be held on Feb. 11 to discuss the proposed 2025 budget.

With files from CP24’s Joshua Freeman