Ottawa mayor proposes tax levy despite tax freeze promise

Despite his election promisetofreeze taxes over four years and his frequent assurances that "zero means zero," Mayor Larry O'Brienhas proposeda two per cent levy on homeowners' property tax bills for next year.

However, the money must go toward repairing Ottawa's crumbling infrastructure, and both the provincial and federal governments must commit matching funds, O'Brien told the city's long-range financial plan sub-committee Monday.

"Under my option, Ottawa would have $180 million in the fund with only $60 million raised by property taxes over three years,"readO'Brien's prepared speech, which he read tocommittee members at thebeginning of themeeting.

The proposal was formally moved by Coun. Eli El-Chantiry.

O'Brien is chair of the committee, which was meeting to finalize its recommendations for the 2008 budget.

The mayor said he is still committed to azero per cent increase on the "operating portion" of each household's tax bill.

However,the levy is not the only municipal tax increase expected next year.

During the meeting, the committee also voted to use the 1.4 per centrate of inflation as the starting point for discussions of next year'sbudget.

City councillors have also been told to expect a police budget increase of 1.6 per cent.

Meanwhile,the levy alone will cost each household about $50. O'Brien said it is needed because previous councils have neglected maintenance on roads, bridges and sidewalks and the federal and provincial governments have notprovided cities with the funding they need. Staff estimate the repair bill for Ottawa's infrastructure will be close to $1 billion over the next nine years.

After the meeting, reporters questioned O'Brien about how the levy fits with the promise of a tax freeze he made before the election.

"I'm not giving it up, not at all,"O'Brien insisted.

When asked if he has come to regret the promise, he responded, "Well, regret is a very big word."