Annual Budget

Yes! There are several ways to provide input during the budgeting process:

• Speak Up St. Marys: Speak Up St. Marys is a virtual platform where you can raise questions, vote on topics and provide feedback on municipal service levels, community concerns, and budget spending in general. Feedback is accepted during the budgeting process only. 
• Council meetings: Town Council meets several times throughout the budgeting process to review the plan and provide feedback to staff. Meeting notices are published in the local newspaper and are shared on our website and Facebook and Twitter accounts. You can submit comments or questions prior to the meetings and view the meetings virtually on our YouTube channel. 

The following outlines the municipal burden* on the average residential dwelling in St. Marys. The municipal burden is the amount an average residential property owner in St. Marys pays in property tax and water and wastewater fees.

*Based on 2021 budget data. 

In 2019, St. Marys participated in the BMA Residential Taxes Comparison Study. St. Marys falls among the "mid" range municipalities for residential property taxes. While St. Marys residential tax rate alone may seem to be higher than the average community, when applied to the average property assessment, the average dollar amount paid in residential taxes puts St. Marys in the mid-range when compared to other municipalities. To better understand how the tax rate is determined, please see the video under the next question. For further details on this study, you can view the full Municipal Study here. 

A printed copy of this study is available upon request. 

In setting the annual budget, and thereby arriving at the municipal tax rate, the Town determines all anticipated expenses, deducts the revenue it expects to receive, and arrives at an amount to be raised from property taxation. This amount is divided by total property assessment to arrive at a property tax rate.

Annual tax rates are calculated during the spring budget process. Once the tax levy by-law has passed, the rates will be posted in PDF format on this page.

1. Council sets the priorities and services the Town will provide.
2. Staff provide Council with the estimated cost to provide those priorities and services.
3. Council deliberates, amends and finalizes the budget details for the year and sets the total dollars required for the year.
4. The Treasurer uses the final budget numbers, along with property assessment information and property tax policies to determine the annual tax bills for each property for the year.
5. Staff deliver the services to the public.