Toronto homeowners are set to see their property taxes increase by 10.5 per cent in 2024, according to budget chief Shelley Caroll, who announced the proposed tax rate ahead of the Budget Committee meeting on Wednesday. 

The double-digit tax hike is the largest Toronto has seen in years, and falls under the first proposed budget of Mayor Olivia Chow's tenure.

The proposed property tax increase for 2024 is nine per cent, and also includes a 1.5 per cent increase to the City Building Fund, a levy that supports capital projects such as transit and housing. According to Carroll, the average household in Toronto will pay $30 more per month. 

The 2024 budget process began with an operating shortfall of nearly $1.8 billion due to "years of chronic underinvestment in city services," the budget chief noted in a news release. 

The first draft of the budget includes investments in transit, housing, and community safety — three priority areas identified in the pre-budget consultations that involved over 10,000 Toronto residents in November 2023. 

Carroll also noted that staff worked with the City's Chief Financial Officer to find over $600 million in cost savings, and also highlighted the New Deal reached between the provincial government and Mayor Olivia Chow, which will result in nearly $400 million in operating funding in 2024. 

Other significant investments include an increase to the police budget, the expansion of the Toronto Community Crisis Service, and a fare freeze for the TTC. 

Carroll said the City is still waiting for the federal government to provide the $250 million required to support the federal refugees currently stuck in Toronto's shelter system.

If the federal government does not make a decision by the time the Budget Committee process concludes on Jan. 26, Carroll said she will be forced to have staff bring forward an additional federal impacts levy of 6 per cent. 

The budget launch is just the beginning of a multi-week process in which Toronto residents will have opportunities to provide their feedback on the budget, including presentations, deputations, and a series of telephone town halls with Mayor Chow. 

"This budget is based on real conversations with the community and it is essential that those conversations continue in the weeks ahead," Carroll said. 

City council is set to vote on the budget in February.