Property taxes may rise 4.6%
Council considers 2026 budget increases for property and water services
Trent Hills council is considering a municipal tax increase of 4.6 per cent for 2026 and an increase for water and wastewater services of just under 3 per cent, according to draft budget documents posted on the municipal website.
Council will hold a special meeting on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. to discuss the draft budgets. It will be accepting public comments and suggestions on its plans until January 5 and will hold another special meeting on January 13 to pass the 2026 budget.
You may recall that Northumberland County council has given draft approval to a 2026 budget that will increase the tax on a median property by $61.43, a 3.8 per cent hike. It will finalize its budget on Wednesday.
The municipality’s total expenditures will be $30.3 million, up $2.8 million or 10.2 per cent from 2025. Taxes will pay for $18.4 million of that with fees and grants making up the difference.
As usual, the largest chunk of the spending, 43 per cent, will go towards transportation. The other main categories are parks and recreation at 14.8 per cent; police at 12.3 per cent; fire and emergency 10 per cent and administration, 9.6 per cent.
The bill for Ontario Provincial Police services will be $2.9 million, up $280,864 over last year. It would have been higher to meet actual costs, but the province limited increases for all municipalities to 11 per cent. Without the cap the cost would have been $3.3 million, up $427.000. Last year the province kicked in $430,000 to help pay the rising cost of police salaries that hit smaller municipalities everywhere.
The total tax levy in the proposed budget is $18.4 million, up 6.4 per cent from $17.3 million in 2025. For every $100,000 of assessment, the estimated property tax increase for municipal purposes is $2.76 or 4.63 per cent. An increase in assessment and growth reduces the increase on individual property owners.
Included in the capital spending plan is $305,000 for new generators at the Hastings Field House and the Sunny Life Wellness and Recreation Centre. Two generators will be designed to provide emergency service. The need for them was apparent last spring when an ice storm hit the area and those centres were used for warming and phone charging.
There is no provision in the budget to set aside money to pay for the cost of the new hospital. The municipality will be expected to extend sewer and water lines west to the new site and to contribute several million dollars to the community effort to raise up to $90 million for hospital furnishings and equipment.
The budget allocates $750,000 to reserves for future spending, but it also takes $1.2 million out of existing reserves to keep taxes down this year.
The budget does include $2.5 million to urbanize and reconstruct Frank Street and part of Saskatoon Avenue with sanitary, water, and storm sewers, and new sidewalks and paved roads. That’s a continuation of work in conjunction with the county’s plan for a new bridge over the Trent River.
It’s unclear whether that work will be needed if the bridge does not go ahead. The county is expected to make a decision this winter whether to proceed with the $56-million project or not. No one at county council has spoken in favour of the project in the past year or more, other than the manager who is spearheading construction. The mayors of Port Hope and Cobourg, who control enough votes to decide the matter, have both questioned the need and cost of the structure.
The budget includes $1.1 million in spending on debt repayments with $470,000 of that going toward the Sunny Life centre. That loan won’t be paid off until 2045.
The parks and recreation department will be raising fees for ice rental and other services and expects to take in $1 million up 29 per cent from $800,000 this year.
As I’ve written recently, development is slowing in Trent Hills, and the budget reflects that with estimates that permit fees will be lower in 2026.
A homeowner on town water and sewers using 10 thousand cubic metres of water will pay $1,562.00, up 2.6 per cent, while a home using 15 thousand cubic metres will pay $1,797.00 up 2.9 per cent, the draft budget says.
The water budget includes $45,000 for work on Inkerman Street and $180,000 for work on Tanner Road. The transportation budget includes $100,000 for work on Tanner and $60,000 for Inkerman.
You can read all Trent Hills News stories on my website here.