Mayor prepared to defend recent property tax increases after approving 3.4% in 2026

CTV London’s Daryl Newcombe with a look at London’s last budget before next year’s election.

The average household in London will have to pay about $160 more next year after council approved increases to the property tax rate, as well as water and wastewater charges.

On Wednesday, London City Council made one last minute change to the 2026 Municipal Budget.

Coun. Hadleigh McAlister proposed a $250,000 contribution to the Rent Bank in 2026 to assist more Londoners who are struggling to pay their rent and utilities.

“This is one area where we can make a difference. This is a proactive program keeping people housed,” McAlister urged colleagues.

Last Thursday, the Budget Committee voted against contributing more funding to the Rent Bank.

However, a letter was subsequently sent to council from the Salvation Army explaining that rising demand for financial assistance from the Rent Bank far exceeds the available funding.

“This is a compassionate program. I would have preferred to see [the additional funding] at the higher level, but I’m very happy that we’ve been able to work something out,” said Coun. Sam Trosow who led the political push last week.

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis said he was not swayed by the Salvation Army’s letter, but he would support the contribution because it’s only for one year and doesn’t come from property taxes.

“I don’t think it’s good to take from one household to support [the] rental for another household,” Lewis explained.

Council unanimously (14-0) supported providing the additional funds to the Rent Bank.

It was the only last-minute change following last week’s deliberations by the Budget Committee.

Previous amendments included:

• Redirecting $4.8 million that was unnecessarily collected to cover development charge exemptions towards tax relief in 2026 and 2027
• Extending free street parking in downtown London, Midtown and the Old East Village from the current one hour to two hours ($784,000/yr)
• Maintaining the current funding level for road network improvements ($114,000/yr)
• Not reducing the frequency of annual resident satisfaction surveys to every-other year ($28,000/yr)
• Using $310,000 (over two years) from the automated traffic enforcement reserve account to coordinate installation of traffic calming in school zones and near road construction

After the meeting, Mayor Josh Morgan confirmed he would not oppose any of council’s changes to his draft budget.

“No, I’m not going to veto any of the changes council made. I’ll provide that formal recognition of not exercising the mayor’s veto tomorrow,” he said.

Morgan’s decision finalizes the 2026 budget update.

Next year the property tax rate will rise 3.4 per cent, equal to about $130 more on the average property tax bill.

Water rates will rise 2.2 per cent and wastewater rates 2.4 per cent, increases of $12 and $18 respectively on the average home.

In total, the average London home will pay about $160 more to city hall in 2026.

Ahead of his re-election campaign, Morgan appears confident when defending his multi-year budget.

“I think the track record in this budget is pretty clear,” he told CTV News. “We had to make some significant investments in some critical areas, public safety, transit, housing and homelessness. And we actually invested a historic amount in libraries as well.”

The first three years of his multi-year budget resulted in property tax increases of 8.7 per cent (2024), 7.3 per cent (2025) and 3.4 per cent (2026).

Deliberations in 2027 are projected to begin at 4.7 per cent.

“You’ll see us going in a direction that is bringing tax rates down over time while other [municipalities] are going up,” Morgan said. “But we are seeing the results from those critical investments, and I think that’s what Londoners can weigh is - do they feel they got value for that money?”

The municipal election will push the next budget season into early 2027.