Local property taxes could be going up as high as 2% this year. 
The draft budget was presented to council last night, and administration is recommending an increase around 1.7 – 2.03%.
The estimate is due to some uncertainty over whether the province will kick in an additional $500,000 as part of the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund.
Budget Chair Brock McGregor says if they don’t hear from the province before deliberations, they’ll take care of those funds in other ways.
“It does add an amount of uncertainty to the budget process, which is unfortunate,” McGregor says. “As we go through this process people get very focused on that number, and half a million dollars is a very significant variance to be working with.”
A series of public consultations will be held across the Chatham-Kent next week before deliberations begin at the end of the month.
For more information on the public sessions and the draft budget – click here.