New Brunswick·NewSaint John’s 2026 operating budget will bring a modest reduction to residential property taxes. It also increases spending on recreation, police, housing and other priorities. Budget will also reduce residential property taxes by 1.5 centsNipun Tiwari · CBC News · Posted: Nov 18, 2025 8:09 AM EST | Last Updated: 21 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Coun. Gary Sullivan presented the budget at Monday night’s council meeting and councillors voted in favour of it. (Nipun Tiwari/CBC)Saint John’s proposed new operating budget would increase spending on recreation, police and housing in the coming year. Coun. Gary Sullivan presented the budget at Monday night’s council meeting, where councillors voted in favour of it as a “receive and file” item. Councillors will review the document over the next two weeks and send any questions to staff before it returns to council on Dec. 1 for a final vote. The budget received unanimous approval from the city’s finance committee on Nov. 12 after being presented as a draft on Oct. 29 by finance commissioner Kevin Fudge.The $203-million budget is roughly 5.5 per cent — or approximately $10 million — higher than the previous budget. While spending increased on many fronts, the city will reduce residential tax rates by 1.5 cents.“If we approve this budget, this council will have reduced the property tax rate in Saint John by 25 cents over [the last four years],” said Sullivan, summarizing the budget to councillors.Sullivan and Fudge said more money was available to the city through funding opportunities from the provincial and federal governments, such as the Housing Accelerator Fund, agreements that funded the city’s “Housing for All” homeless strategy. Sullivan also said it’s the result of good debt management. Staff reports submitted to council state the city reduced its long-term debt by about 46 per cent since 2014, from $119 million to about $64 million for the coming year.Growth in tax base brought more revenueSaint John will reduce its property tax rate by 1.5 cents, from $1.55 to 1.535 per $100 of assessed value.In May, the provincial government introduced legislation to freeze property assessments for one year while it works on plans to reform the province’s property tax system.According to staff reports, the city’s tax base grew by 1.53 per cent. As a result, the city will see slightly over $850,000 in new tax revenue in the coming year. “Given that assessments were frozen, I would say the results are promising from a growth perspective,” Fudge said. “These percentage increases are strictly because of pure growth as well as new construction and property sales.” Recreation, police, housing are priority itemsThe city is basing some of its budget priorities on results from a survey released in August that asked members of the public where they want to see municipal dollars spent. The survey results — from slightly over 700 responses — said residents want to see more spending on roads and sidewalks, parks and recreation, affordable housing, snow plowing and policing. Staff reports say recreation investments — with $1.2 million in increased funding — will include continued work on the city’s Harbour Passage extension, the Shamrock tennis court in the city’s north end, funding for a new cricket field and other projects. The city police department will see an extra $1.25 million in funding, bringing the total budget to nearly $32 million. This will allow the force to hire four new police officers, according to staff reports. Coun. Barry Ogden says he is happy about the prospect of more police, saying the public is worried about public safety. (City of Saint John)Coun. Barry Ogden said he’s happy about the prospect of more police.“People are worried about the security of the streets of Saint John,” Ogden said, speaking with reporters after the meeting. “I come from a family that had a number of businesses Uptown and there’s not the same feeling anymore about security … We have to do something about that. ”In September, councillors voted for the city to review the police department’s governance structure. Sullivan said there’s allocated funding for that governance review. Sullivan also presented the city’s utility fund budget to councillors Monday night, which will include an increase in water rates in the coming year. The 1.26 per cent increase will mean an added $1.50 per month for flat-rate customers, bringing the annual rate to $1,446, according to staff reports.The utility also plans to introduce a “road map” to switching to a water-metering system instead of the flat-rate system that it will start phasing out in 2026. The budget also includes $2 million for the city’s homeless reduction strategy, Housing for All. City will continue tax reform advocacy The city staff and councillors have long advocated for heavy industry to carry a larger share of the city’s tax burden. The majority of the city’s budget — 77 per cent — is funded by municipal property taxes, according to staff reports. Sixty-four per cent comes from the ‘residential class,’ 27 per cent from commercial property taxes and nine per cent comes from heavy industry. (City of Saint John)The majority of the city’s budget — 77 per cent — is funded by municipal property taxes, according to staff reports. Sixty-four per cent of this comes from the “residential class,” 27 per cent from commercial property taxes and nine per cent from heavy industry. Currently, heavy industry property taxes in the province are linked via a multiplier of 1.7 to residential property taxes. This means that commercial and heavy industry see the benefits of the small residential tax cut as well. Fudge and Sullivan said the city continues to advocate for more flexibility in setting the multiplier in the commercial and industrial rates.ABOUT THE AUTHORNipun Tiwari is a reporter assigned to community engagement and based in Saint John, New Brunswick. He can be reached at nipun.tiwari@cbc.ca.
Saint Johns 2026 budget increases spending on recreation, police and more
