City pitches 11.3% property tax hike

City of Brandon administration is recommending an 11.3 per cent property tax increase this year.

The city’s director of finance said the increase is necessary to cover expenses related to new staff hires and because more debt needs to be paid off, among other things.

“We need to not only look back at some of the decisions that we made last year, but also what our needs are for our current times, as well as planning for the future as well,” Troy Tripp said at Monday evening’s council meeting.

The 11.3 per cent increase would mean property taxes on an average Brandon home worth $302,500 would rise to $2,550 — up about $250 from last year, Tripp said.

The city has started paying off debt on large infrastructure projects undertaken in recent years, and is continuing to pay off old debt, he said. That includes drainage improvements in the southeastern part of the city, field and arena upgrades, and construction of a section of the police headquarters.

Other reasons for the proposed increase, which will be debated and likely whittled down by council over the course of the month, include the city planning to put more money into reserves, and enhancements to existing departments.

“Expanding some of our front-line services, in terms of some of our recreation and our solid waste diversion — those would be increased services that residents would notice,” Tripp said in an interview Tuesday.

“As the city continues to grow and we continue to grow our front-line services, we also need to be investing in those support functions that help those front-line departments operate more smoothly.”

The recommended hike follows a 2025 estimate that the city would need a 16.7 per cent increase this year. Tripp said that figure was lowered mainly because less debt was issued last year than expected.

He said only 10.6 per cent of this year’s proposed increase would actually go to the average home, as a small part of the revenue is being raised through growth in the city’s assessment base for new and improved buildings.

Of the increase, more than a third is to pay for additional debt and nearly a quarter would go to reserves, for future use.

The 11.3 per cent recommendation would mean the city would take in more than $62 million through property taxes, nearly half of its total revenue.

In 2025, city administration had asked council for an 11.7 per cent increase, which council lowered to 6.9 per cent by dipping into the city’s surplus and reducing transit fleet expenses.

That came after a December 2023 report from accounting firm MNP that 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 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 a delay to several capital projects.

In 2024, the city implemented a 9.4 per cent increase.

After Tripp’s nearly-85-minute-long presentation, Mayor Jeff Fawcett said the 11.3 per cent recommendation is about what he expected from administration.

“We kind of know what’s needed, and then we also know that we’ve got to keep ourselves in as close a check as possible,” Fawcett said after the meeting.

“Big decisions will get made, and we’ll explain as we do them on how that’s going to impact people. If we don’t do this now, what does it mean later? If we do it now, how does that impact us today?”

Personally, he said, he would like to “bite the bullet” and have a larger increase now so that there are only smaller increases in the future.

“But there’s 11 (council members) that make decisions in collaboration with our administration, and we have to think of all our residents,” Fawcett said. “We have to think of the long term of the city and make the best decisions that we can based on that.

“I’d like to address it faster, but for sure it’s got to be palatable.”

Fawcett said late last year, before administration’s recommendation was known, that ratepayers should expect around or just above a seven per cent increase.

Tripp, who started working on this year’s budget back in May, told the Sun that a seven per cent increase would mean property taxes on the average home would rise to $2,475, but would come with drawbacks.

Hiring more staff to keep up with IT, recreation and solid waste needs would be more difficult, he said.

“Maybe those enhancements are pushed out a few years and we don’t see some of the benefits from those for a few more years down the road,” Tripp said.

“It could also require us to look at some of our capital plan over the next 10 years, and potentially have to defer projects farther out to allow us some additional time to build up those reserves towards those capital investments.”

Tripp said that what to cut or change would be up to council.

“At the end of the day, it will be contingent on how council decides to move the number towards that seven per cent to be able to determine exactly what the impact will be,” he said.

Council also brought up the topic of a surplus from this year, which could help lower some costs.

Tripp also highlighted what the city could expect for future tax hikes through 2029 if administration’s recommendation isn’t changed.

The city could expect increases of 10.8, 5.3 and 6.8 per cent tax in the next three years, respectively, although that would likely increase if council lowers this year’s amount.

Tripp also reminded people that if they pay their taxes early, they get a discount.

Property taxes are due at the end of June, but if people pay this month, they get a one per cent discount on last year’s level of taxes.

People can get progressively smaller discounts on their taxes throughout the next few months.

Budget deliberations are set for Jan. 30 and 31 at city hall. Those meetings are typically all-day affairs.

Four pre-budget meetings are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Jan. 12, 15, 20 and 26. Those meetings will be open to the public, except for one, or part of one, dealing with labour matters.

» alambert@brandonsun.com