Stratford residents to see another tax increase as part of the town's 2025-26 budget

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 10:58 AM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

Stratford residents volition spot different taxation summation this twelvemonth arsenic portion of the town's fund for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

This marks the 2nd twelvemonth of a three-year program to rise municipal residential taxes by 2 cents per year, which was approved successful past year's budget.

The municipal information of residential spot taxes volition summation by 2 cents this year, bringing it to 49 cents per $100 of assessed value. Another two-cent summation is expected successful the pursuing year.

For homeowners with a spot valued astatine astir $350,000, this translates to astir $70 much successful yearly taxes, said Coun. Jody Jackson, the town's concern chair.

He said the summation applies lone to residential properties this year, with nary changes for apartments oregon commercialized properties.

"We person tons of antithetic things that our residents want, and we lone person a definite magnitude of resources, truthful we person to beryllium precise careful," Jackson told CBC News.

"You don't similar increases successful taxes, but we cognize to supply the services that we need, we person to bash that."

Jackson said Stratford, similar different municipalities, is inactive waiting for a caller revenue-sharing statement with the province, truthful a municipal taxation summation is indispensable to proceed providing the services residents person travel to expect.

Currently location to astir 12,500 residents, Stratford is 1 of the fastest-growing municipalities successful the province.

Jackson said idiosyncratic fees volition spot flimsy increases, with recreational programming costs rising by astir $5 for activities similar baseball, soccer, cricket and pickleball.

Water and sewer rates volition besides spell up by 1.9 per cent, adding astir $4 per 4th for customers.

"It's the magnitude that we had to enactment connected conscionable with the increasing costs retired there," helium said. "With a imaginable caller revenue-sharing agreement, which we cognize is coming, it whitethorn let america immoderate flexibility into the 3rd twelvemonth of that plan."

Investments successful services, infrastructure

Jackson said policing and occurrence services stay a large absorption of the budget, accounting for astir 40 per cent of the town's wide authorities expenses.

The municipality added an further RCMP serviceman past year, and this volition beryllium the archetypal afloat twelvemonth of that seventh officer.

The municipality is besides investing successful nationalist information by expanding the e-watch camera system.

Other planned improvements see expanding transit services wrong the assemblage and adding much progressive proscription options.

Stratford's superior fund lays retired a program for spending astir $24.8 million, with large investments including $4.5 cardinal for sidewalk, motorcycle way and way construction, and $4.8 cardinal for the waterfront park.

The parkland replaces the erstwhile sewage lagoons astatine the town's entranceway and features a boardwalk that connects to the province's progressive proscription way crossed the Hillsborough Bridge.

"It's turned into the other proscription corridor crossed the bridge, regaining that lagoon abstraction arsenic a park, which we're going to bash a batch much with this twelvemonth with events and hopefully signifier two, depending connected funding, we're going to marque immoderate much investments there," Jackson said.

Community field faces backing roadblock

The superior fund besides includes $14.8 cardinal acceptable speech for the archetypal signifier of Stratford's assemblage campus, a 170-acre improvement betwixt Bunbury Road and the Stratford Business Park that volition see a caller precocious school.

Intended to beryllium the town's sports and taste hub, the field volition diagnostic six shot fields, 3 shot fields and a cricket field. These are expected to unfastened successful the outpouring adjacent year.

The large summons point is the $85-million Wellness Centre, expected to unfastened successful autumn 2027, the aforesaid clip arsenic the caller precocious school. The centre volition see 2 crystal surfaces, an indoor turf field, taste spaces and a younker center. 

Jackson said the state has committed to backing the caller precocious schoolhouse and supporting captious infrastructure wrong the campus.

However, astatine the national level, the municipality has yet to unafraid funding, and with an predetermination approaching, advancement whitethorn beryllium delayed, the Ward 3 councillor said.

"I'm hoping that those moving for bureau successful Cardigan volition marque this a precedence for them. Because we weren't capable to get the steadfast committedness earlier the election, and honestly disappointed," helium said.

"We're a increasing town. Just looking astatine [federal income] tax, we lend about… $54 cardinal from our municipality each twelvemonth — conscionable connected income tax, not including HST, c tax, oregon immoderate different depletion tax. So we conscionable privation to get our share."