Another big tax hike is potentially coming for Brandon residents

Brandon homeowners are facing the possibility of a double-digit tax increase in 2025.

An 11.7 per cent tax hike is being proposed, this after a 9.4 per cent increase last year.

"The medicine doesn't taste particularly good right now,“ said Mayor Jeff Fawcett. “But I can guarantee you Brandon is going to be in as good or better position than almost any other community come the next number of years."

While inflation is playing a role, Fawcett said this is part of a three- to four-year plan to make up for years of low taxes, replenish reserves, and ensure core services and needed infrastructure are funded.

"So it is to maintain and to get us ahead to the future, plus $150 million in capital projects, that's big." 

Winnipeg property owners are also in store for a higher than normal increase as 5.95 per cent is planned. Mayor Scott Gillingham had to break his campaign promise of 3.5 per cent because he said the city needs more revenue.

"This is a really, really difficult decision,” said Gillingham Dec. 11. “I don't take lightly, you know, for the first time in decades we have a tax increase of this amount."

On the provincial side, changes to education property taxes will save some homeowners money and cost others more. Drivers are feeling the pinch too; the gas tax holiday is over, and MPI announced this week rates are going up 5.7 per cent on April 1.

Driver Robert Rodericks said he’s had to cut back.

"You got the working man, like myself, paying $1,100 for an apartment, you got $700 plus a month for groceries, you got gas on top of that,” said Rodericks. “Like, it's kind of hard to make a buck here and there when you got this stuff going up."

Economist Philippe Cyrenne said people can only pay so much. He said over the last five years in Manitoba, average industrial wages have gone up 10 per cent, while consumer prices have gone up by 20.

"Levels of government are taking more tax. That's another expenditure that consumers are facing,” said Cyrenne. “The citizens are actually getting upset over time."

Brandon residents will get to have their say on the budget as there are public consultations. City Council will deliberate the budget on Jan. 24 and 25.