Taxpayers in Niagara-on-the-Lake and St. Catharines are both days away from seeing their respective local councils finalize their 2026 municipal budgets, with some of the lowest property tax increases in years. Meanwhile, Regional Councillors are grappling with how to try to meet their target of a 3.5 per cent tax increase, with pressures coming from the police budget and various priorities put forward by staff looking to push that number significantly higher.
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Property owners in Niagara-on-the-Lake will likely see a bigger property tax increase for 2026 than originally proposed by Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa, although it will still come in well below last year’s 7.34 per cent.
Zalepa, using his recently acquired strong mayor powers, had previously pitched a property tax increase of 1.81 per cent.
However, last week Council had an opportunity to offer amendments to Zalepa’s budget, two of which passed.
The first change, which was put forward by Councillor Gary Burroughs, would see Niagara-on-the-Lake hire a certified engineer as the development engineer, instead of an engineering technologist.
This one change added $64,000 to the operating budget, which pushed the proposed property tax increase up from 1.81 per cent to 2.17 per cent.
The second change, pitched by Councillor Adriana Vizzari, would extend the 15 per cent discount presently offered to Niagara-on-the-Lake residents with three or more children for swimming lessons to include recreation camps, recreation programs, and the swim team.
The cost of this second change is estimated to be $3,000, pushing the property tax increase up to 2.19 per cent.
All other proposed amendments were rejected by Council, including a pitch by Councillor Sandra O’Connor to raise the parking rate for all paid parking areas by 25 cents, which would have brought in an additional $152,000 next year alone.
Under Zalepa’s strong mayor powers, he now has an opportunity to veto the amendments should he so choose, which Council could then attempt to override.
Council has set a Dec. 3 deadline for ending the budget process in Niagara-on-the-Lake, so if Zalepa chooses not to veto the proposed changes, the budget will be passed as it stands currently and property owners’ tax increase for 2026 will remain at 2.19 per cent.
That will lead to a property tax increase of $33.60 for the average household, which is still much lower than in recent years.
St. Catharines
Meanwhile, in St. Catharines, Council made six amendments to Mayor Mat Siscoe’s budget. While these amendments did include increased costs, because assessment values increased, the property tax increase St. Catharines property owners can expect to see next year is exactly what Siscoe originally proposed – 1.74 per cent.
Changes include a proposal to increase annual funding for the St. Catharines Cultural Investment Program by $257,000, with the funds to be taken from the tax rate stabilization reserve; $150,000 from the tax rate stabilization fund to help with traffic management for the Sunset Beach area; $20,700 from the general levy to upgrade the pathway in Walker’s Creek; $28,900 from the general levy to upgrade the pathway at Mountainview Park; $5,700 from the general levy to resod and restore the labyrinth at Fairview Park; and $200,000 from the civic project fund for St. Catharines’ 150th anniversary celebrations next year.
Siscoe now has an opportunity to veto any of Council’s proposed budget changes, but he has said publicly that he does not intend to veto any of the changes councillors made. That means when the budget process wraps up, the property tax increase will stand at 1.74 per cent, or $31.17 for the average household.
Niagara Region
While most lower-tier municipalities in Niagara Region have settled on relatively minor property tax increases for 2026, Niagara Region is still in deliberations on how much to raise the regional portion of property owners’ tax bills. As of today, Niagara Region is looking at a general levy increase ranging between 5.40 and 9.99 per cent, ranging from a $202 to $306 increase for the average household, although Regional Councillors are continuing to debate ways to bring that number down.
Of the anticipated increase for 2026, the bulk of the increase is tied to Niagara Regional Police Services, which is looking for an 11.5 per cent operating budget increase. Put in terms of the impact on the average household, the police budget increase, if left unchanged, would be responsible for a 4.55 per cent property tax increase. Everything else Regional Council is looking at would lead to a tax increase of between 0.85 and 5.44 per cent, depending on how much Councillors choose to cut.
Although Niagara Regional Council passed a motion earlier this year calling for the general levy increase to be capped at 3.5 per cent, if at all possible, it is looking increasingly likely that the previous goal will not be met without significant cuts – both to the police budget and to other budget priorities. In total, staff are saying $34.8 million of potential spending will have to be cut to get back down to a 3.5 per cent general levy increase.
Niagara Region’s budget is expected to be finalized on Dec. 11.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
