Tax rates are going up in Inverness Co. for the first time in 12 years.
The residential tax rate is increasing three cents- from $1.02/$100 of assessment to $1.05/$100 of assessment, an increase that will cost the average homeowner an extra $24.60 per year.
The commercial tax rate is also going up, from $1.85/$100 of assessment to $1.91/$100 of assessment.
Sewer rates are rising three cents, from $0.31 to $0.34 in Cheticamp, and from $0.30 to $0.33 in the rest of Inverness Co.
The changes are included in the 2019-20 municipal budget, which was passed at June’s regular council meeting Thursday afternoon.
After the meeting, Betty Ann MacQuarrie, the warden of Inverness Co., told The Hawk the increase was required.
“With mounting costs, and also with the infrastructure issues that we are dealing with head on, we had no other choice but to raise the tax rates.”
MacQuarrie said they’ll need to pay more than $103 million in infrastructure development through 10 years, largely to fix and maintain the municipality’s seven wastewater and water treatment plants.
The new budget is $16.9 million overall.
