Brandon passes 6.9% tax increase, dodging anticipated double digit hike

Brandon property owners will pay 6.9 per cent more in taxes this year after the city council passed a budget focused on preventing an 11.7 per cent tax hike for residents.

Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) told CBC News overall he's satisfied with how council eased the burden on taxpayers, but cautioned the days of low tax rates are over in the city for now.

He says stretching out major purchases across several years is helping lessen the impact on taxpayers.

"My purpose wasn't so much about reducing ... the expenses, but kind of moving them out," Luebke said. "One thing I wanted to do was make sure that the council of that era was not going to be saddled with the same kind of year."

Mayor Jeff Fawcett says while council did have to table a high tax rate, he's proud they were able to avoid double digits. He says next year the city may be looking at a 16.9 per cent tax increase in the 2026 budget and council wants to start bringing that number down.

"We're working on next year's budget now. It is going to be difficult," Fawcett told CBC News. "We'll see what happens when we get there ... our decisions will be made through the year to hopefully have that at a little better place."

Brandon's 2025 budget was buoyed by provincial support. The city received a last-minute reprieve of $1 million from the province — which helped lower taxes one per cent — to aid in Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium capital funding.  

An unexpected increase in the expected surplus from the 2024 budget was also bumped up from $1.7 million to nearly $2 million helping save about two per cent on taxes, Fawcett said.

He warns the city needs to keep investing in infrastructure to keep the population and tax base growing. 2024 saw a seven per cent growth and that helped generate revenue for the city.

"A lot of our growth has been immigration, you know, when we do know that federally that's been a big factor," Fawcett said.

Luebke's hoping that more support from senior levels of government — especially for capital projects — and the decisions made in this year's budget council can hopefully bring in lower than projected taxes in 2026.

Preparing for uncertainty

When it comes to planning for future budgets, Brandon University rural development professor Doug Ramsey told CBC News there's a lot of uncertainty. Between a pending federal election, economic impacts from south of the border and cuts to immigration numbers directly affect Brandon City Council needs to prepare.

"If they're already talking about what a scenario could be for next year ... They probably already know they can't come down to seven next year," he said. "It seems like this seven per cent might be palpable because it's a little bit less than last year."

He says an increase of just under seven per cent is an improvement from previous years that saw low rates that failed to match or exceed inflation.

In 2023, municipal taxes went up 1.6 per cent, while the inflation rate was 6.2 per cent. The city began to play catch-up on rates in 2024 with a hike of 9.4 per cent.

Cuts to the city's police budget of $450,000, $1 million in maintenance and $50,000 of the city's doctor recruitment fund also helped lower the 2025 budget.

Other major projects included in the 2025 budget include $30.7 million for wastewater infrastructure, $18.2 million for city equipment fleet refurbishments and replacements, $18.9 million for land drainage improvements and $41.2 million for solid waste projects.

Also included is $100,000 to get more trees planted in Brandon, $200,000 for additional pothole repairs and $250,000 for street preservation.

Aging fleet costing the city millions.

Fawcett says fleet maintenance is a major chunk of the budget because the city has an aging fleet that needs refurbishments and replacements.

Brandon has just over $18.2 million in maintenance, refurbishments and equipment including purchasing two new buses allocated in the 2025 budget.

The city's general manager of operations told council there are just over 80 pieces of equipment that need to be replaced. That's almost 20 per cent of city vehicles.

Council opted to cut about $3.5 million from the fleet maintenance budget, while also pledging $2 million to the purchase of two new buses.

Luebke says he would have liked a bigger cut, but is happy with the compromise council found.

Coun. Shaun Cameron (Ward 4) told CBC News transit is also part of the city's commitment to climate action. Funding made today will help with better utilization and resources to make it more sustainable in the future.

"That was a big chunk of this budget," Cameron said. "Every year maintenance costs continue to grow with vehicles becoming older, and the cost to repair vehicles being a lot bigger expense. I think today we made some good strides ... that will be helpful in us rejuvenating that fleet."