Regional Chair Bob Gale will soon reveal his priorities and proposed changes to the Niagara Region operating budget. Should none of Gale’s proposed changes be adopted, Niagara Region’s property tax hike for 2026 will be 6.98 per cent.
In his first meeting as Chair, Gale thanked Councillors Sandra Easton (Lincoln) and Tom Insinna (Fort Erie) for introducing and seconding a motion to defer the consideration of the operating budget from January to February in order to give Gale a chance to review the budget and offer some proposed changes to get the proposed property tax rate down.
Easton put forward the motion at the eleventh hour, just as Councillors were about to vote on whether to accept the budget as-is, with a 6.98 per cent property tax hike at its core. Easton’s motion was controversial and narrowly passed by a single vote, 14-13.
Gale addressed his priorities for the budget when giving his opening remarks to Council.
“Everyone knows that I am always asking what the implications are for the taxpayers, for the people we serve,” said Gale. “With uncertainty internationally that affects us locally, we have to make sure we are being very responsible with tax dollars. Sometimes in government it is easy to forget that there is only one taxpayer and that they are feeling squeezed from all angles right now.”
“If there is a chance to help relieve some of that pressure, it’s our duty to do it,” Gale added.
With that being said, Gale outlined four areas that he would not propose touching in terms of pursuing budget cuts. Those areas include social services, public health, long-term care, and homelessness.
Gale made sure to thank Chief Administrative Officer Ron Tripp and regional staff in his remarks for taking the time to work with him to try to propose additional measures to decrease regional spending.
“We are all working to find some efficiencies for the taxpayers,” Gale concluded.
Gale also noted that he had been in dialogue with Chief of Police Bill Fordy on the police budget, which, if the budget passed as-is, would be responsible for more than half of the overall property tax hike.
Last spring, Council set out a goal of keeping the 2026 property tax hike down to 3.5 per cent or less.
Wednesday evening, Gale issued a press release noting he has found $3 million in proposed savings, which would bring the property tax hike down to 6.37 per cent.
That’s still a far cry from the 3.5 per cent property tax increase proposed last spring but does represent savings for the average household.
It remains to be seen whether Council will support some, all, or none of Gale’s proposed budget changes.
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.
