The Town of Kingsville is proposing a 6.7% tax increase for 2026 with a large focus on infrastructure.
The 2026 draft budget was released Wednesday which proposes an increase of $11.97 per month, or $143.63 annually, for the average household in Kingsville.
Of this 6.7%, the draft budget includes a 3.3% tax levy increase dedicated to capital asset replacements.
Some infrastructure investments outlined in the budget include $2.6-million for road reconstruction and resurfacing, $1.4-million for bridge replacements and rehabilitations, $898,000 in increased contributions to road, bridge, facility, and park lifecycle reserves, and $270,000 for sidewalk replacements.
The town is facing a number of challenges, including an increase of $333,000 for the policing contract, a new fire truck which has inflated costs, and inflation.
Ryan McLeod, Kingsville's Director of Finance, says administration is recommending that no new staffing positions are added in 2026.
"This is coming forward from departments who are hearing from the community that say, 'we want more services in this area, we want better parks, we want better road maintenance'... so that managers are coming forward and saying 'we need more resources, we need more staff', but we've had to push back on that just to try to keep the bottom line in check. So we've pushed back on any staffing increases this year."
He says the budget is very infrastructure focused following a review of their asset management plan.
"There's clearly a big gap between what we're investing and what we should be investing in infrastructure and other core facilities. So, we did this asset management planning and we've proposed a financial strategy which actually recommended an increase of 3.3% tax levy increase just dedicated towards core infrastructure and other critical assets the municipality owns."
McLeod says the town has to replace Fire Engine 122... a key fire response vehicle.
"The budget includes about $1.2-million for the replacement of a fire engine. We're seeing the cost of this kind of emergency response equipment rapidly increasing over the last two or three years."
Residents are encouraged to provide feedback on the proposed budget on the Have Your Say Kingsville website.
Budget deliberations will take place on December 10 and December 11, if necessary.
Kingsville council approved a tax increase of 3.61% in 2025, representing an annual increase of $74.54.