Niagara Region’s 2026 property tax increase will be well north of six per cent, with the final number still up in the air as Regional Council has asked Niagara Regional Police to cut its budget increase further.
If Niagara Regional Police do not reduce their funding ask, the 2026 regional property tax increase will come in at 6.98 per cent. But councillors have asked the police to reduce their 2026 budget request by $2.7 million, which would lower the property tax increase to 6.48 per cent.
Either way, it’s substantially higher than the 3.5 per cent goal councillors set for themselves last spring.
Chief Bill Fordy is pushing for an increase to the police budget of 11.5 per cent, which would bring the Niagara Regional Police budget up to $236.9 million in 2026. Councillors are hoping the police board will come back and agree to lower that to $234.2 million.
The vast majority of the police budget increase is being driven by wage increases that were established through the collective bargaining process. More than 8.5 per cent of the requested 11.5 per cent increase can be tied directly to wages and compensation increases.
Councillor Tom Insinna (Fort Erie) led the charge in calling for further efficiencies from the Niagara Regional Police.
It was Insinna who put forward the amendment to reduce the police budget by $2.7 million, asking the Niagara Regional Police Board to go through its budget and find the requisite savings.
“I’m throwing an olive branch out saying, look, please look a second time,” said Insinna.
Insinna noted that every other department followed the 3.5 per cent guidance when it came to budget increases, but that the Niagara Regional Police budget increase comes in at nowhere close to that number.
Insinna’s amendment was seconded by Councillor Brian Heit (St. Catharines), who had previously pushed for a reduction in the police budget request earlier in the budget process.
“I was supportive of sending it (the police budget) back, which was defeated, a number of weeks ago,” said Heit. “In the past four years, they’ve added over 100 staff…this year they’re looking at over 60.”
“As we talk about affordability, we can’t afford these kinds of increases.”
Council narrowly passed Insinna’s motion sending the police budget back to the police board.
The board will likely get back to Council in January as to whether they’re willing to accept the additional cuts, whether they will accept partial cuts, or whether they will appeal Council’s request to the Inspector General of Policing, a provincial body that resolves these kinds of budgetary disputes.
As such, Niagara residents won’t know the exact property tax increase figure for 2026 until the new year.
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.
