Higher home costs but lower municipal taxes in Milton, Oakville, Burlington

While Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills offer lower property tax rates than other GTA municipalities, it comes at a cost.

The cost, of course, is more expensive housing.

Property tax rates vary from city to city and are set by individual municipalities to cover the costs services in the community such as transportation, infrastructure, maintenance, and park services.

Understanding which areas have higher or lower property tax rates can help ensure that the location you choose fits your budget for the long term.

In general, municipalities with higher average home prices have lower property tax rates, while the municipalities with more affordable average home prices have higher property tax rates.

For example, Markham has the lowest property tax rate at 0.645017%, meaning a homeowner would pay $9,146 on an average-priced home of $1,418,021. Toronto East, Toronto West, and Toronto Central all have a property tax rate of 0.666274%, with Toronto West having the second-lowest property tax bill on our list at just $6,870 despite having an average home price of $1,031,054.

With Halton municipalities having above average sales prices of homes, it stands to reason local mill rates would also be lower.

Milton had the seventh lowest rate among the 32 surveyed communities at 0.703 per cent for a total of $7,870 property tax on an average home price of $1,118,827.

Oakville is 10th at 0.760 per cent mill rate and taxes of $12,016 on the average-priced home sale of $1,580,110.

Burlington is 11th at 0.779 per cent and taxes of $8,959 on the average-priced home sale of $1,149,169.

Halton Hills is 16th at 0.181 per cent and taxes of $10,873 on the average-priced home sale of $1,055,733.