Making Amherstburg more affordable should be a goal as it relates to taxation

The purpose of this letter is to reiterate to council that our town is a wonderful and beautiful place to live in, and I care about our future.

My concern is that we may be unable to continue our current lifestyle and quality of life without addressing the real elephant in the room. 

The failure of this council to recognize that we are paying the highest taxes, water and sewage rates in the County of Essex.

I would like to commend council for a lower tax increase in 2026, in comparison to our surrounding municipalities’ and just in time for the new municipal election this November. Amherstburg had the fourth lowest increase out of the seven municipalities in Essex County. However, we continue to retain the distinction of having the highest taxes, water and sewage rates in the County of Essex.

When comparing total taxes on a home having an assessed value of $350,000 with our surrounding municipalities, taxes in 2026 for Lakeshore are $5,038.60, Town of Tecumseh - $5709.90, Town of Essex - $6,134.10, Town of LaSalle – $6,788.60. The Town of Amherstburg remains at the top spot at $6,819.75.

Is there a plan to bring these costs under control?

After reviewing the recently completed Amherstburg Community Strategic Plan, I became concerned and then quickly disappointed when no goals or policies appeared on how to address the problem of high taxation, water and sewage rates. 

There was mention of a goal to pay down municipal debt and the development of a new financial accountability model. But I found no concrete direction on how to address the real problem of the high taxation that exist.

Identifying threats that exist in a community and addressing them in a strategic plan can be a valuable tool to council. 

However, our strategic plan does not identify the “issue of high taxation costs” as a threat to our quality of life. This failure will negatively impact many of our seniors and young people. 

Our goal on this issue should be to strive and make our community a more affordable place to live in.

—Dan DiGiovanni

Amherstburg

Making Amherstburg more affordable should be a goal as it relates to taxation