Council Approves Challinor Budget Income Fund, Reducing Property Tax Impact By 1% In 2026 and Beyond
Milton Council recently approved a proposal by Town of Milton Ward 2 Councillor John Challinor II to create an operating budget income fund that will reduce the annual property tax impact on homeowners by 1%, beginning in 2026.
Mr. Challinor had originally introduced the idea during 2024 budget deliberations in December 2023.
Council approved an expansion to the list of eligible investments for the Town that would allow for exposure to the equity market through the ONE Canadian Equity Fund for up to 10% of the Town’s investment portfolio. The Equity Fund’s December 2024 Performance Report published an annualized 10 year return for the fund of 9.14%.
An initial investment of approximately $20 million in the ONE Canadian Equity Fund, which represents approximately 6.1% of the Town’s budgeted average investment portfolio, could generate a sufficient return in order to support the annual property tax relief. Staff could reallocate $20 million of the current portfolio balance into the Equity Fund on a phased basis. $1 million in new budgeted revenue would be added to the operating budget in 2026 which would assist in mitigating budget pressures and offset an otherwise local tax rate increase of approximately 1%.
Once the operating budget income fund is in place and is providing anticipated results. Mr. Challinor will re-introduce his proposal for a infrastructure-related capital budget income fund, that will further reduce the property tax impact on homeowners by an additional 1% annually. CR