City seeks consistency in property-tax hikes

Brandon’s property-tax hike this year will “probably” be higher than seven per cent, and that level of jump could be normal for a while, Mayor Jeff Fawcett said.

In a year-end interview late last month, Fawcett said the city is trying to find stability and have consistency in its tax-rate increases for the foreseeable future.

“We can’t be going up and down and up and down, and try to guess what your taxes are going to be. You have to have a good idea,” Fawcett, who confirmed he is running for re-election in October, said in his office at city hall.

“I expect it’s probably going to be a bit higher than (seven per cent).”

In late 2023, a report from accounting firm MNP said the city should implement 13 per cent tax increases every year from 2024-27, followed by about three per cent increases from 2028-33.

The report also said the increases were needed due to rising costs and because the city had previously kept taxes too low.

A second scenario called for nine per cent increases every year from 2024-33, which would have required delaying several capital projects.

In the two years since then, the city has implemented 9.4 and 6.9 per cent increases, respectively.

Fawcett said the MNP report is “a very good guideline,” but those recommendations aren’t etched in stone for the city.

“We weren’t going to do 13 per cent a year, it’s just not palpable,” he said.

“We’re trying to get this to where it is palpable. We know we’re going to put ourselves in a better position going forward at around that seven.”

That includes having smaller increases for a longer period of time, which Fawcett described as “a number of years.”

After that period of increases, Fawcett said he would like to see rate hikes of three or four per cent, “just to maintain status quo year after year.”

Additionally, the MNP report doesn’t factor in grants and funding from other levels of government, which lower the cost the city pays on infrastructure projects, he said.

Other levels of government won’t be willing to pitch in for projects in Brandon unless council is trying to improve its fiscal position, Fawcett said.

The years of very small or no increases are gone for the foreseeable future, he said, as those decisions put the city in a “significant hole.”

No politician wants to raise taxes, he added, but said it’s better to not keep worsening the problem by keeping taxes low.

“It’s the right thing for the city. We need to do this,” he said.

Fawcett said when budget discussions ramp up this month ahead of deliberations on Jan. 30 and 31, ideas about other cost-cutting measures could arise.

“Maybe it is not hiring some additional staff, maybe it is cutting some little area,” he said.

“We’re trying our best to make sure that our core services are being met. The last thing we want is high taxes, less service.”

One of the services the city wants to improve is snow clearing, as the last streets sometimes aren’t plowed until seven days after a storm.

In recent months, the city has also explored building a new outdoor pool. Lift stations and improving drinking water are other projects the city has recently undertaken.

Fawcett said he would like to see two outdoor pools built in the coming years.

The Kinsmen Centennial Pool at Rideau Park is currently the only outdoor pool in the city. It opened late in 2025 after repairs were needed, and the city has said the 57-year-old pool doesn’t have many seasons left.

The Kiwanis Pool at the Keystone Centre closed in 2019.

Fawcett said building a new pool at the Keystone Centre first, and then replacing the Kinsmen Centennial Pool afterward, would be good for the community.

That would include “two very good” pools instead of one “amazing” one that is only open during the summer months.

On the infrastructure side of things, Fawcett said it was good to see the province complete the 18th Street reconstruction this year, and noted that the city is continuing to upgrade 26th Street.

The city also plans to build a roundabout at the corner of 18th Street and Braecrest Drive next year, which Fawcett said has been talked about for the last 14 years.

Looking forward, he said the city is speaking with the province about reconstructing First Street.

While First Street is only partially under the province’s jurisdiction, construction would “be the whole heart of First Street, right through the city,” he said. The street was partially closed for much of last summer as water mains were being replaced.

On the topic of last year’s wildfire season, Fawcett said Brandon was very well prepared to host evacuees, in comparison to previous years.

He said early last year he had gone to Brandon Police Service Chief Tyler Bates with issues the city dealt with in 2024, and Bates had already addressed them.

Fawcett added that the First Nation safety officers who were stationed in Brandon were “really, really beneficial” and made “a big difference” for evacuees.

He said the city has “proven” that is it “ready for whatever comes” in the future.

Additionally, Fawcett said the city will continue to look at its transit network, and try to make it more efficient.

That could include smaller buses that can connect to larger routes, he said.

“At the end of the day, the option of good, viable, efficient transit is a cost savings to people,” he said. “If you can get away with one car instead of two, because you have an efficient transit system … that helps.”

The city has been trying to replace a couple of its aging buses, but prices have come back “very, very high,” he said.

To lessen the cost, Fawcett said Brandon is looking at joining with a larger city in a bulk order. That would mean a bigger city would buy a larger number of buses for a cheaper price and Brandon would take two or more of them at a discount.

He also ruled out the possibility of Brandon getting electric buses any time soon. Last summer, Winnipeg unveiled its first electric transit bus, which was set to debut by the end of 2025.

Lastly, on the topic of homelessness, Fawcett said the city has been in discussions with other levels of government about mitigating and helping its rising homeless population.

He said there are a few “quite good projects” in the works that will “come out online” in the next few years, but couldn’t share details.

He said while those projects don’t help today’s homeless person, the city is trying to help combat the problem.

“We want to make sure that we’re collaborating with all the organizations in the city as well. We want to make sure that we’re a smooth conduit to the provincial government,” he said.

“We are trying to find some faster routes for a number of things … You can’t just snap your fingers.”

» alambert@brandonsun.com