Municipality will see two-cent property tax increase in 2026
At a special council meeting held on Nov. 24, the Nackawic-Millville Council passed a $4.17 million budget for 2026. This is an increase from $3.84 million in 2025.
Mayor Tim Fox said a decision by the Provincial Government to freeze tax assessments made it very challenging to budget for ever-increasing costs.
“With almost everything increasing in cost, it was very challenging to try and maintain our tax rates at the 2025 level,” said Fox.
There will be a two-cent increase in the municipal tax rate across the entire municipality, as each department has experienced rising operating costs due to inflation. This helps offset the shortfall in required revenues.
The council agreed to increase budgets for General Government Services, Protective Services, Transportation Services, and Environmental Services. Also, an increase in the Fiscal Services budget to accommodate debentures for investments in new assets (housing development, Dumfries Fire/Community Hall).
The Capital Region Service Commission payments will increase by 7% over 2025 levels.
Some smaller budget cuts to the Recreational Services and Environmental Development Services budgets were agreed to.
For utilities, a 7.5% increase in user fees will be implemented to offset rising operating and maintenance costs.
Fox said the council anticipates some construction in the new housing development in 2026 and budgeted conservatively for land sales and new building permits. He said that, with increased investments in local assets, the council has also budgeted small increases in operating and capital reserves for 2026 to support future projects and operations. There was no direct impact on the budget due to the new subdivision development.
Despite significant increases in municipal operating costs, which continue to rise, Fox said the council managed to strike a balance.
“All in all, council strived to minimize the impacts to the taxation rates, while balancing responsible spending,” he said.
