Halifax to keep property tax rate flat, bills going up about 4.7%

Haley Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 26, 2025 6:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

The mean Halifax homeowner volition spot their spot taxation measure spell up astir 4.7 per cent this year, which is overmuch little than primitively predicted.

On Wednesday, Halifax determination councillors finalized which items should beryllium chopped oregon added to the municipality's 2025-26 budget, aft hours of statement that began past week.

They kept the taxation complaint flat, truthful it volition beryllium the aforesaid arsenic past year's $0.770 per $100 of assessment. 

"We are not surviving successful mean times and this is not a regular fund cycle. We request to get retired of regular mode and marque changes that volition get our fiscal sustainability connected track," Mayor Andy Fillmore said past Friday.

"People are anxious, galore households and businesses are conscionable hanging on."

Even though the complaint won't increase, rising spot assessments mean the mean single-family residential taxation measure with a location appraisal of $338,500 volition spell up astir 4.7 per cent this coming year.

That works retired to an other $117 connected the mean residential bill, for a full of $2,606.

The metropolis is expecting a $1.3-billion operating fund and $318.8 cardinal successful superior spending for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Staff primitively projected a 7.6 per cent hike successful February to screen the astir $70 cardinal successful caller spending compared to past year. But assembly lowered that percent done assorted cuts and the usage of reserve accounts.

Most of those reductions were suggested by Fillmore, who campaigned past twelvemonth connected not expanding the taxation rate.

During nationalist consultation connected the fund implicit the past weeks, a few Halifax residents did impulse councillors to support taxes low.

Ed Mury said helium and his wife, some pensioners, person seen their spot taxation load turn considerably arsenic their appraisal jumped astir $190,000 successful the past fewer years.

Some residents 'terrified' of rising costs

"There's radical here throughout the metropolis and districts that conscionable cannot spend immoderate more, and they're terrified. I'm included," Mury said astatine a February meeting.

Even wrong a level taxation rate, assembly approved assorted other expenses to the regular budget. 

They see 14 caller Halifax RCMP officers, 10 other firefighters who volition beryllium astatine the caller West Bedford occurrence station, extending the beingness of 10 transit buses to code overcrowding and delays, and a civilian situation squad to grip intelligence wellness calls alternatively than police.

"We're trying to physique a amended municipality for the radical that unrecorded here, and this is precisely the benignant of work that … we should beryllium looking at," Coun. Jean St-Amand said past Friday astir the situation team.

A assemblage mediation aviator was besides funded and volition commencement this year. It volition beryllium tally by the United Way, which volition supply mediators arsenic neutral 3rd parties to assistance residents navigate conflict.

Multiple councillors talked astir however the aviator could mean big savings for municipal resources, due to the fact that bylaw officers, councillors and sometimes constabulary are called to respond to disputes betwixt neighbours.

One of the large savings came from Fillmore's proposition to usage $10 cardinal from the Central Library's reserve, and astir $890,000 to region the planting of 2,000 trees arsenic portion of the upcoming year's municipality forestry plan.

The room reserve was acceptable up to person wealth successful spot for upgrades and eventual replacement for the Central Library. Now, the room volition beryllium treated similar immoderate different plus and person upgrades funded by different reserve accounts.

Finance unit recommended against utilizing the room wealth arsenic a one-time changeable to screen operating expenses and little the taxation rate, due to the fact that it is not sustainable. A unit study warned that the determination lone defers indispensable taxation increases to adjacent year.

But Fillmore said helium volition bring guardant a question successful April to have municipal unit bash a heavy dive into metropolis services, and immoderate cuts stemming from that could assistance support taxes debased successful the coming years.

"There are important savings that we tin find," Fillmore said past Friday.

Budget to beryllium passed successful April

Some items were passed that had nary direct impact connected the taxation complaint this twelvemonth owed to funds being recovered successful different areas. They include the after-hours squad supporting radical who are stateless astir Halifax, and mounting up preventive crab screening for Halifax firefighters.

Staff volition present cipher the interaction connected the assorted commercialized taxation rates. The last fund volition beryllium passed successful April.

A twelvemonth ago, assembly approved a 6.3 per cent taxation measure summation arsenic portion of an wide $1.3-billion fund for 2024-25.