Essex County sets budget with a 1.43% increase

Essex County council has set its 2019 budget at $102,867,990, resulting ina 1.43 per cent increase.

That translates to an increase of $13.63 on a home worth $200,000. That homeowner would be looking at an annual tax levy of $966.54.

County CAO Robert Maisonville said the increase was not due to the county`s operating budget, but because of rising infrastructure costs such as road improvementsand the county's committment of $100,000,000 for the new mega-hospital.

"That's one project that we have to fund that really isn't what we do," said Maisonville said about the mega-hospital.

Maisonville said he believes the 1.43 per cent increase is reasonable.