By: Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News
Chatham-Kent residents are facing a potential 4.92 per cent property tax increase in 2026, as the Budget Update was presented to council last Wednesday night.
At this increased rate, Chatham-Kent homeowners will pay an additional $104 annually per $100,000 of a home’s assessed value.
However, council will still have the opportunity to lower the proposed increase when budget deliberations begin on Tuesday, Nov. 25.
The original tax increase was 8.77 per cent, but administrative staff reduced it to 4.92 per cent by finding $9.5 million in efficiencies.
“None of them result in any service level changes in urban or rural communities,” said Ward 6 Councillor Brock McGregor, who is chairing his eighth municipal budget.
McGregor said there were a number of small changes – such as debt retirement, reorganization of the CAO’s office, insurance premiums and a difference in how money is placed in reserves – that added up to the $9-million in savings to get down to the 4.92 per cent level.
Mayor Darrin Canniff directed administration to come back with a 3.0 per cent budget target, contingent on provincial and government funding.
Staff met that challenge by finding savings for a 2.92 per cent increase.
However, the provincial government funding didn’t come through.
“So that’s added an extra two per cent,” McGregor said.
Chatham-Kent is only receiving $10-million from the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund, even though the municipality should be receiving $29.3-million, according to local calculations.
Chatham-Kent is one of only three municipalities in Ontario with a $10-million cap on OCIF funding. Sudbury and Thunder Bay are the other two municipalities capped at $10 million.
Canniff said about 420 municipalities receive OCIF funding.
He said the OCIF program is designed to assist small, rural communities in repairing and building new essential infrastructure based on population density and economic conditions.
Canniff said the number of assets, such as bridges, culverts and rural roads spread out across the vast Chatham-Kent area, “is what’s really driving an anomaly with the OCIF funding.
“This is not a one-time fund; this is every year we should be receiving this,” said Canniff, adding that the municipality is on the hook for the $19.3-million gap that added the extra two per cent to the tax increase.
McGregor said administration has been lobbying local MPPs and provincial ministers to remove the “arbitrary” cap.
“We’re modifying that strategy, and we’re hoping the community is going to advocate for this change as well,” said McGregor. “We’re being a lot more public and loud about what’s inequitable use of that cap, and we’re hopeful the province is going to recognize and they get rid of the capo and treat us fairly compared to other municipalities around us.”
McGregor said he is looking forward to deliberations “to see what ideas come from the budget committee and if there are any innovative or creative ideas to move that number.”
“There’s nothing fancy about this budget, I definitely think it’s one that’s gone through a lot of work already to get down from that projected number from over nine (per cent) to under five,” he said. “The big point to me is there are no service level changes, which is a pretty loud and clear message from the public.”
The municipality developed its first multi-year budget for 2024-27 to provide strategic financial planning for the current term of council.
The first multi-year budget was passed in November 2024 with a 5.53% tax increase for 2024, while council needed only two nights of deliberation in 2025 to approve a 4.99% tax increase, well down from the 9.40% projected hike.
The 2026 Budget is available on the Let’s Talk Chatham-Kent website, which includes a new ‘budget tool’ that allows easy access for councillors and residents to look at the numbers in more depth www.letstalkchatham-kent.ca/budget-2026.
Residents will have the opportunity to provide input about the budget during two virtual community open houses next week on the Municipality’s Facebook page – Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 12 noon and Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.
A brief summary of the 2026 annual budget update will be presented by administration at the beginning of each consultation session, followed by a live question-and-answer session.
Budget deliberations begin Tuesday, Nov. 25, with sessions also scheduled for Nov. 25-27. If council cannot approve the budget after the first three sessions, deliberations will continue on Tuesday, Dec. 2 and 3. All budget meetings will be held in-person in the Council Chambers at the Civic Centre, 6-10 p.m. nightly, as well as livestreamed on YourTV and CK’s YouTube Channel.
Anyone wishing to make a deputation regarding the budget on the first night of deliberations on Nov. 25 can send a request and submission by email to ckfps@chatham-kent.ca before 12 noon on Nov. 25.
