'Our reserves have been depleted': Winnipeg Beach raises taxes to cover previous council's mistakes

Residents in Winnipeg Beach are upset about a big increase on their tax bill, but the community's mayor says the poor financial decisions of previous administrations has left them no choice.

Cottage owners in Winnipeg Beach were surprised to find a four point increase to the town's mill rate on their tax bill last month, going from 17 to 21.

"Everyone was shocked," said Darren May, whose family has been spending summers at Winnipeg Beach for more than 50 years. "It's never gone up that much."

May did expect some property tax increases in a reassessment year, but his overall property taxes amounted to nearly 18 per cent, which he says is too much.

"A four per cent mill rate increase is quite substantial in a rural area where nothing has changed in the services that were provided," he said.

More than 300 people came out to a town forum Saturday to find out the reason for the increase. Winnipeg Beach Mayor Pam Jackson, along with the town's CEO and four town councillors explained that they had no money left in the town's reserve fund.

"Unfortunately, past administrations have not been covering all their operational costs through taxes," Jackson said. "They had been covering their operational costs through our savings and through our reserves."

Jackson was elected last fall, along with an entirely new council. She said they inherited a mess financially.

"The books haven’t been balanced for the last few years, haven’t gone through an audit since 2020, so we're trying to catch up with that and find out some real numbers," she said. "What we do know is that our reserves have been depleted."

In order to remedy the situation, council put together a budget that would cover operating costs and begin building back the reserve fund. They then brought tax levels up in order to cover those costs.

May said the meeting opened up a lot of residents' eyes about the situation. "There has clearly been mismanagement in the past. We certainly have to give them some latitude with what they've inherited."

Jackson said residents understand why the tax increase is happening.

"Dozens of people approached me and said 'you know, I don’t like the fact my taxes are higher, but I certainly understand that you folks have to do this, and I'm glad that you're being fiscally responsible,'" she said.

Jackson said they did not make the decision lightly. "It was a really hard decision, I feel really badly for folks living in our community, some on very tight budgets."

She hopes to avoid future tax increases, and the town is also working on other ways to bring in revenue.

May said while the increase will hurt his wallet, he at least understands the situation. "They talked a lot about accountability, which gave me some hope."