This was accomplished through the hard work of City Administration and staff streamlining operations, and tough debates by Council to reduce spending on low priority programs. This work must continue. We always need to be working hard to give every dollar the most impact.
Fiscal Wall
However, that success has come at a cost. To keep tax increases low, Council has increasingly chosen to draw from City reserves to fund day-to-day operations.
I have often voted and argued against this practice. For example, in the last budget, Council chose to draw $2 million from reserves to keep taxes down. I voted against this, arguing that if Council wanted to reduce taxes by that amount, we needed to find $2 million in spending reductions instead.
Why? Because we can only draw from reserves for so long. The need to increase taxes or reduce spending doesn’t go away—it just gets pushed to future years, and the problem gets bigger.
We are now hitting a fiscal wall. Administration estimates that to maintain existing services in 2026 without drawing from reserves, a tax increase of approximately 7% would be needed.
My Plan: Efficiency, Growth, and Responsibility
A 7% tax increase would hurt families and businesses, and I don’t want that. But slashing services also hurts our community, especially the families who rely on them the most. I feel a great burden to make our community as affordable as possible for all residents, especially families that are struggling. But I’m also very conscious that those whose finances are challenged often see the least impact from tax increases but the most impact from service reductions.
We need a balanced and responsible path forward. Here is my commitment:
Laser-Focus on Efficiency: We must ensure we are maximizing the impact of every dollar. I will continue to champion initiatives like improving procurement, benchmarking salaries, measuring City performance, focusing on asset management, and creating long-term fiscal plans for major amenities. Council needs to have sustainable long-term plans and assurance that Administration is doing everything possible to be efficient.
Grow Other Revenue Sources: We need to reduce the burden on residential taxpayers. I will push for strategies to grow our non-residential tax base through business attraction and to expand non-tax revenue sources.
End the Reliance on Reserves: We must stop kicking the can down the road. For the 2026 budget, we have to face the challenge head-on. We can’t draw from reserves to fund regular operations. In fact, we should be investing into reserves to make sure that we are prepared for future large costs.
My Position for Budget 2026
The next budget will be challenging. I don’t know where I will ultimately land, because it depends on the options presented and what I hear from you.
However, I cannot support the deep service cuts that would be required to achieve a 0% tax increase. Taking away services that families rely on does not sit well with me. At a minimum, I believe taxes will likely need to increase to cover inflation plus the $2 million we drew from reserves in 2025. However, we should be prepared to dig into service levels and cut where appropriate. We need to minimize any tax increases by cutting services that are low priority or low impact.
Giving you this perspective on taxes is likely terrible campaign strategy. Saying “I want to lower taxes while making the City do more for you” would be well received messaging by many. But I think it is important to respect voters by being transparent. This is my honest assessment. I don’t like it. I don’t want to increase taxes. But this is where I think things sit.
As you read and think about this, I would love to hear from you. What questions do you have? Where do you agree with me? Where do you think I’m out to lunch? What ways do you see that the City can save money or reduce low priority services? And what services do you think should be preserved no matter what? I’d love to talk over email (dylan@bressey.ca), social media, or the phone to either hear your thoughts, or setup a time to meet for coffee and really hash things out.
