Officials in the Town of Port Hawkesbury have held the line on their tax rates despite staring down a $490,000 budget shortfall.
Councillors approved a residential rate of $1.80/$100 of assessment and a commercial rate of $4.38/$100 of assessment at June’s regular council meeting Tuesday night.
They used their reserve accounts to cover the $490,000 shortfall as part of their 2020-21 budget.
After the meeting, Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, the mayor of Port Hawkesbury, said COVID-19 cost them considerable service revenue.
Chisholm-Beaton said using reserve funds isn’t a long-term solution, but they couldn’t pass the lost revenue on to their ratepayers.
“It’s not an action that would be feasible long-term,” she said. “It was about striking a balance, and really coming from a point where we understand the financial burden that our citizens are facing.”
Chisholm-Beaton said using provincial COVID-19 emergency loans would have been more expensive in the long run than dipping into reserves.
