Peterborough residents could see a 7.43 per cent all-inclusive rate increase next year, according to the city’s 2026 draft budget presented to city council’s general committee on Monday evening (November 3).
The all-inclusive rate consists of municipal property tax, education tax, and municipal sanitary sewer surcharge rates.
Richard Freymond, the city’s commissioner of finance and corporate services, provided councillors with a summary of the draft budget document prepared by city staff.
“We’re not asking council here this evening to make any decisions,” Freymond said. “The presentation is simply a high-level overview.”
Freymond noted that, in the spring, Mayor Jeff Leal had directed him to prepare a draft budget that maintains current service levels, provides for inflationary increases, and assumes a 10 per cent increase in the police budget to meet provincial requirements under the Community Safety and Policing Act. In June, general committee was presented with preliminary information about the 2026 budget.
Freymond presented council with a line-by-line comparison of differences between the June forecast and what is included in the draft budget document.
Some of the changes include funding housing and homelessness from the municipal tax levy rather than from reserve, higher costs for insurance and fuel, decreased interest income, decreased rezoning application and landfill tipping fees, increased transit revenues, a police budget increase request of 9.8 per cent instead of 10 per cent, a paramedics budget increase request of 7.3 per cent instead of the expected three per cent, a public health budget increase request of five per cent instead of the expected three per cent, and an increase in the sewer surcharge water rate and wastewater protection.
These and other changes amounted to a net increase of $1.5 million to the budget over the June forecast.
Although the printed version of the draft 2026 budget presented to council shows a 7.84 per cent increase to the all-inclusive rate, Freymond advised council that the city had received additional information on benefits costs for employees and an updated amount of the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund grant to the city since the budget was printed that decreases the all-inclusive rate increase.
The reduction in benefits for city employees is estimated at $445,000 for city employees and $220,000 for police employees, for a total reduction of $665,000. The increase in the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund grant is $269,000. In combination, the reduction in expenses and increase in revenue decreases the all-inclusive rate from 7.84 to 7.43 per cent.
For a residential home in the city of Peterborough with a median assessed valued of $260,000, the 7.43 per cent rate increase would equal about $385 for the year (around $148 per $100,000 of assessed value).
The 2026 draft budget includes an operating budget increase of 2.93 per cent to maintain existing levels of service, an increase of 2.18 per cent for infrastructure and capital needs, an increase of 0.53 per cent in the sanitary sewer fee, and an increase of 1.79 per cent increase for city-funded external agencies.
The budget includes $433.7 million in spending on municipal services, funded by revenues of $232.7 million from non-municipal property tax sources such as user fees, grants from other governments, recoveries, interest from investments, and service charges, resulting in a tax requirement of $201 million.
The budget also includes $140.5 million in capital investments, including capital projects such as the police station renovation and expansion, Lansdowne Street West between Spillsbury Drive and Clonsilla Avenue, Wastewater Treatment Plant revitalization, extending a taxiway at the Peterborough Regional Airport, road paving, purchasing transit buses, and water service distribution infrastructure.
It’s important to note that the 7.43 per cent all-inclusive rate increase is subject to change during public consultations as well as council deliberations on the draft 2026 budget. After consultations and deliberations are complete and the budget is finalized, the city expects the 2026 budget will be adopted by council on December 8.
A public information session that includes a brief presentation on the draft budget, followed by an opportunity for residents to speak with city staff, will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday (November 5) in the Banquet Hall at Healthy Planet Arena at 911 Monaghan Road.
That will be followed on Monday, November 10 by a 3 p.m. general committee meeting at city hall where council will hear presentations from invited local boards and agencies. While public delegations will not be heard, the meeting is open to the public.
Later on Monday from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m., an informal drop-in will take place in the main foyer of city hall. While there will be no presentation of the budget during the drop-in, residents can speak with the city’s budget team to ask questions and share comments ahead of the general committee meeting at 6 p.m.
At the general committee meeting on Monday evening, council will hear from registered public delegations about the draft budget.
Following these meetings, general committee will reconvene on November 17 and 18 to review, discuss, and debate the draft budget. While public delegations will not be heard, these meetings are open to the public.
More information about the draft 2026 budget, including a copy of the budget book, is available at peterborough.ca/budget.
