Courtesy Town of Riverview

When 2023 budget deliberations began, Riverview Town Council was leaning toward holding the line on taxes but later decided to reduce the tax rate by seven cents.

Deputy mayor Wayne Bennett said the town is in good financial shape and it’s necessary to support ratepayers who are dealing with higher assessments and costs related to inflation.

“My average cost for home heating oil is $500-600 a year. When I ordered home heating oil last week, I was quoted $1,400 to fill my oil tank – and that’s outrageous!”

Mayor Andrew LeBlanc noted how keeping the tax rate stable would have meant more revenue but added lowering it will help residents who are struggling.

After learning about the Higgs government’s ballooning surplus, councillor Cecile Cassista said the town needs to become more aggressive with the province over the recent downloading of services.

“When we look at the province sitting with a $774 million surplus and it’s growing, we’ve got to do something about that because they’re downloading homelessness, they’re downloading affordable housing and it’s going to continue.”

The budget is expected to be formally approved when Town Council holds a special meeting on Thursday at noon.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story had mentioned water and sewer rates remaining the same but this was taken in error from last year’s budget. Full details of Riverview’s budget are coming shortly in a separate story.