Tax breaks, water rate increases and $28M in spending: Tantramar council to consider 2027 budget ahead of Nov. 10 vote

Tantramar council has heard the final draft budget presentation and will vote next week on whether they will accept the proposals from staff that would spend around $28 million and lower municipal tax rates for most Tantramar residents.

Over the last three weeks, Treasurer Michael Beal presented council with an operating budget of $19.6 million, up about $1.2 million from 2026, a proposed capital budget of about $5.5 million, and a utility operating budget just shy of $3 million.

At the Nov. 2 meeting, Beal laid out eight options for tax rates within the municipality, and suggested council should tell him which options should be removed from consideration ahead of next week’s vote.

“ You’re not here to, at this meeting, to debate which option you want to choose. But if there is options that you don’t even want to consider, that would be good to hear so that I don’t have to create those resolutions.”

Listen to the audio below:

Council quickly settled on the three options it would like to debate.

The first would see taxpayers in Sackville and Dorchester pay $1.4693 per $100 of assessed value (down $0.0657 from last year), those in the Sackville LSD pay $0.7125 (up $0.05), those in the Point de Bute LSD pay $0.8186 (down $0.0366), and those in the Dorchester LSD pay $0.7911 (also up $0.05).

As previously reported by CHMA, the two former LSDs are seeing proposed increases as they have not been fully implemented since amalgamation, and so will likely see their tax rates increase by at least five cents a year until they reach 90 per cent of what the former towns rates are.

The other two options would keep the same rates for Sackville, Dorchester and the Point de Bute LSD, with one reducing rates in the former LSDs, and the other maintaining them from last year.

In the case of option 2, the Sackville LSD would be down almost three cents to $0.6341 and the Dorchester LSD down a little over 3 cents to $0.7094.

Regardless of the option chosen, residents in the former LSDs also have to pay $0.4115 per $100 of assessed value to the province for road maintenance, snow clearing, and other transportation infrastructure.

The reduced rates would mean reduced revenue for the municipality, with option 2 reducing it by $140,655 and option 3 by $90,184.

The table below shows the municipal tax rates per $100 of assessed value council is considering for Tantramar’s 2027 budget:

Of course, even with rate cuts, most will still see an increase on their tax bill as assessment values in the area rose by more than 11 per cent over 2026.

Residents in the former towns should also expect a slight 3.8 per cent increase in water rates in each of the next four years. That would increase the annual minimum bill for Sackville residents by $25 to $677 for the year, while Dorchester residents would pay a flat rate of $891.43, or a $32.67 increase.

Capital projects

Police services will see the biggest per cent increase in spending, with $235,511 more in the general operating budget over last year, followed by Active Living and Culture with a $164,755 increase. Public Works and Engineering will see a $195,646 increase.

As for larger capital spending, Public Works wants to replace a 2013 CASE loader for $456,000 and to resurface part of King Street for $283,000.

Active Living and Culture is looking to spend $95,000 for three system upgrades as part of the life cycle planning for the ice at the Tantramar Veterans’ Memorial Civic Centre, $200,000 to replace the three sections of floating boardwalk in the Waterfowl Park, and $150,000 to move forward with a memorial park in Dorchester.

Moving to Protective Services, Dorchester needs a SCBA compressor for $105,000, and all three fire services need PPE replacements, which will run about $132,000.

When it comes to spending, Beal cautioned councillors to not throw out the whole budget over a project they may disagree with, as any expense value more than $10,000—or $25,000 in the case of Public Works—will go back to council for a vote of final approval.

“ So council may say, “well, I don’t really agree with this one project. I don’t really agree with this second project,” when it comes to the capital budget breakdown,” said Beal. “I would prefer and recommend to council that you don’t reject the whole capital-out-of-revenue breakdown over one project.”

Council will vote on the budget next Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 3 pm, ahead of its regular council meeting that night at 7 pm.