Lambton County budget contains 1.75% increase

Lambton County council has approved a 2019 budget that features a 1.75% increase in property taxes. Social services and long-term care account for more half of the $216.

Lambton County council has approved a 2019 budget that features a 1.75% increase in property taxes.

Social services and long-term care account for more half of the $216.5-million spending package, which Warden Bill Weber called prudent and restrained.

“In the end, the county ended up with a property tax increase that is lower than the rate of inflation,” he said.

Fifty capital projects worth $20.4 million will begin this year, including the resurfacing of various county roads and the replacement of the Bear Creek Bridge.

Another $6.4 million is being socked away in reserves.

The county levy is one of three determinants in setting property taxes in Sarnia, along with City Hall spending, which is up 3.35% this year, and school board spending.