Halifax Water seeking rate hike to deal with growing budget deficit

CBC News

· Posted: May 05, 2025 3:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Halifax Water is asking the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board to o.k. complaint increases for the adjacent 2 fiscal years to marque up for what it's calling a "significant fund deficit." 

In a merchandise Monday, the inferior said it's asking for a 16.2 per cent summation successful the mean residential measure successful the 2025 fiscal year, which began April 1, and an further 17.6 per cent summation successful the 2026 fiscal year.

According to Halifax Water, that means the mean yearly residential measure would summation by $148 successful 2025-26 and an further $187 successful 2026-27.

The summation is required to code an anticipated $18.7-million shortage for the 2024-25 fiscal year and a projected $34.1-million shortage successful 2025-26, the inferior said. 

Halifax Water said it took pains to debar ample complaint increases successful the years pursuing the opening of the COVID-19 pandemic, tapping into reserves and surpluses for arsenic agelong arsenic it could, but it's present indispensable to summation rates to chopped into its deficit.

Rates antecedently roseate by 3.6 per cent in December 2022 and an further 3.6 per cent in April 2023, but Halifax Water said those hikes did not afloat screen its costs.

Increased inflation, higher involvement rates and aging infrastructure costs are besides to blasted for the projected terms hike, the inferior said.

"While we managed to support rates debased for respective years, it is present important that we use for a complaint summation to enactment operational sustainability, mitigate further deficits, and guarantee that we tin present high-quality h2o services that customers expect," said Halifax Water wide manager Kenda MacKenzie successful the release.

Halifax Water antecedently shared intentions to use for a complaint summation successful March 2024, but is lone getting astir to doing truthful now.

In an FAQ connected its website, the utility said the hold was a effect of important enactment changes astatine the enforcement level and different organization capableness issues. 

MORE TOP STORIES