Budget

The City's budget is your budget. Make your voice heard.

The 2025 budget will implement Richmond Hill’s new vision of “A Vibrant and Inclusive Community of Neighbours” under the three pillars of Richmond Hill’s Strategic Plan 2024-2027: growing a livable, sustainable community, focusing on people, and strengthening our foundations.

Take a survey about your City's 2025 budget now.

If you are unable to complete the online survey and would like to answer by telephone, please leave a message at 905-747-6311 and a member of Richmond Hill staff will call you back.

About Richmond Hill's Budget

Richmond Hill's annual budget is made up of the following: the Capital Budget and the Operating Budget, which includes Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Budget. Learn more about how tax dollars are spent on the My City at Work page.

2024 Budget

2024 Budget book

Mayor West’s 2024 Budget was adopted on December 13, 2023, including the operating budget to support the City’s day-to-day services and the capital budget to maintain and build new infrastructure. The 2024 budget maintains the City services and programs that residents rely on while also looking to the future.

The budget news release and background, Richmond Hill Budgets Set for 2024, provides details.

Richmond Hill collects taxes on behalf of York Region and the Province of Ontario for education. In 2024, approximately 26% of taxes remain in Richmond Hill; 52% goes to York Region and 22% to education.

The Operating Budget also determines the annual tax rate. Council approves the tax rate. For information on past budget processes, please visit the Past Budgets page.

Senior Tax Assistance Grant

Richmond Hill offers a Seniors' Tax Assistance Grant for eligible residents. The grant is $432 in 2024.

To qualify for the Senior Tax Assistance Grant, seniors must be 65 years of age or older and apply each year, occupy their residential property in Richmond Hill, be the assessed owner (or spouse of the owner) of the property for at least one year immediately preceding the date of the application and receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement as provided under the Old Age Security Program. Learn more and apply for the Senior Tax Assistance Grant.

Learn how Richmond Hill's budget works:

Capital Asset Sustainability Fee

Using Capital Asset Sustainability funds to Repair and Maintain Richmond Hill Infrastructure

Richmond Hill is responsible for the repair and maintenance of roads, community centres, trails, watermains and more. The funding for this comes in part from a fee that is added to property tax bills.

Prior to 2019, the Capital Asset Sustainability Fee was applied as a flat fee to all tax accounts in Richmond Hill. In 2019, the fee transitioned to a levy on each property, based on a percentage of the Phased-In Assessment Value of a property as determined by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).

Administering the levy based on property values is a more equitable approach to infrastructure funding.

Comparable GTA municipalities including Markham, Newmarket, Aurora, Mississauga, Brampton and Burlington use this approach for infrastructure funding and debt repayment.

Why do we need a Capital Asset Sustainability Levy?

The Capital Asset Sustainability Levy is needed to ensure the municipality has the funds to repair and maintain infrastructure such as roads, parks and buildings. Richmond Hill has $1.85 billion in infrastructure assets that need to be maintained for the safe use of residents.

As the City continues to grow and develop, more funds will be needed to build and maintain our infrastructure.

Similar to other municipalities, Richmond Hill is facing the challenge of the infrastructure funding gap – the difference between the funding needed to keep assets in a state of good repair and the funding available.

History of Richmond Hill’s Capital Asset Sustainability Fee

Council adopted the Capital Asset Sustainability Strategy in 2015, gradually moving the City towards a Pay As You Go funding approach to support the repair and replacement of capital assets. The two-part approach includes the introduction of the Capital Asset Sustainability Fee to increase available funds and the careful prioritization of capital project priorities.

From 2016 to 2018, the adoption of the Capital Asset Sustainability Strategy resulted in a flat rate fee, where all property owners pay the same fee. In 2019, the Capital Asset Sustainability Fee changed to a Capital Asset Sustainability Levy. The levy is based on the Phased-In Assessment Value of a property as determined by MPAC and the rate Council sets each year.

The levy will raise the same amount of funds as the fee; however, there will be changes in the amount payable among residents and business owners.

How much will the Capital Asset Sustainability Levy be?

Taxes

Richmond Hill collects taxes on behalf of York Region and the Province of Ontario for education. Only about one quarter of your tax bill pays for Richmond Hill services. Tax amounts are approximate and updated once York Region and the Province of Ontario approve their final tax rates each year.

Richmond Hill receives about $0.26 for every dollar of municipal taxes collected from a residential homeowner. We receive about $0.13 for every dollar of commercial taxes collected.

For more information, please view our property tax page.

Property assessments

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) completes property assessments in Ontario. Every municipality uses these assessments to apply local tax rates on your tax bill.

Richmond Hill's Finance department is responsible for calculating, consolidating, billing and collecting municipal taxes from property owners in Richmond Hill. This includes residential and non-residential property owners.

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