‘It’s about fair tax, not the lowest taxes’: Halifax council passes $1.45B budget

Halifax council has passed the operating and capital budget for 2026-2027.

After months of debate, Halifax council has passed its $1.45-billion operating budget, which will raise tax bills for homeowners by 7.5 per cent.

A staff report says the budget is “one of the most financially sustainable budgets the municipality has prepared.”

“We’re trying to position HRM as a community to choose to live in,” said Councillor Jean St-Amand. “So that means necessary investments that we need to make. It’s about fair tax, not the lowest taxes.”

“I’m really proud that we’ve positioned ourselves really well for next year with some of the decisions we made about capital budgets,” said Councillor Janet Steele. “We were going on a very unfortunate path and I think we’ve reigned things in.”

The proposal, which included the operating budget and $331.5-million capital budget, passed 14-to-three, with councillors Shawn Cleary and John Young, and Mayor Andy Fillmore, voting against it.

“Throughout this process, I heard clearly from residents that affordability is their primary concern right now,” Fillmore said in a news release. “I brought forward ideas to help lower the tax increase, and ultimately made my decision based on what I believe residents can reasonably afford.

“Because I do not believe we reduced the tax burden enough, I voted against the budget.”

Fillmore says he believes the tax increase remains higher than many residents can reasonably afford.

“While really hard and excellent work was done on reductions, there were subsequent additions that eroded much of the progress that we made,” said Fillmore.

Fillmore told reporters Tuesday he voted with the needs of voters instead of as a result of peer pressure, a statement some councillors were not pleased with.

“Mr. Mayor, I’m really disappointed in your leadership when you come out and make those comments,” said Councillor Tony Mancini.

“I think not voting for the budget is a bit of an entitlement. This isn’t an opportunity to kind of, you know, put our stake in the ground and say, ‘Hey, I’m not getting everything I want and therefore I don’t support this,’” said Deputy Mayor Patty Cuttell. “At this point… it’s about our collective decision making. This is about ratifying the budget. We’ve had the debate.”

Tax bills for Halifax homeowners are expected to rise $284 each year. Factoring in municipal council’s decisions, the average single-family residential tax bill would rise by 9.5 per cent, but weighted against provincial and mandatory rates, the final increase represents a 7.5 per cent jump.

“While the 2026/27 budget includes a higher-than-normal average municipal tax bill increase of 9.5%, it represents one of the most financially sustainable budgets the Municipality has prepared,” a staff report said.

“This is driven by deliberate decisions to strengthen reserves, minimize reliance on one-time funding, and expand the use of non-tax revenues to help mitigate ongoing expenditure growth.”

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Callum Smith

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