Halifax regional council have directed municipal staff to keep combined residential and transit taxes at 2011 levels.

In a budget update at Halifax City Hall on Tuesday, municipal staff presented four different scenarios for general and transit tax rates.

The recommended option included a 0.7 cent increase in the transit tax rates and a 4.8 cent reduction in the general tax rates, which staff say will result in no change in the average urban tax bill of $1,667.

But because of new homes in HRM, holding the tax rate at 2011 levels is estimated to result in a $10-million increase in revenue.

Under that scheme, commercial tax rates would decline by about 4.4 per cent, according to HRM’s manager of fiscal and tax policy Bruce Fisher. Commercial taxes are already significantly higher than residential rates, with an average bill of $38,000.

But according to Coun. Tim Outhit, businesses will still be facing a bump in their bill due to assessment increases.

“We’re hearing that the rate is going up on average of 5.4 per cent,” said Outhit.

He said he would like staff to come back to council with a report on what would be required as far as cuts and legislation to also freeze the increase for the commercial-tax base.

In the end, council directed staff to pursue their preferred option while preparing a report on the effect of freezing commercial tax bills for the year.