Council has advanced the 2026 municipal budget with decisions at their March 30 meeting. Here are a few things to know.

Allocation of revenues

Approximately two-thirds of the District’s total revenue is from property taxation, the remainder a mix of things such as government grants (15.5 per cent of all revenue), revenue from own sources (8.3 per cent), and sales of services. (5.1 per cent)

From property tax revenues, 14.27 per cent are from residential properties.

Major industry reflects 75.47 per cent of collected property taxes, and business/commercial is 7.97 per
cent.

Tax rate increase

Council has set a 4.79 per cent property tax rate increase for 2026.

A 4.79 per cent increase does not necessarily mean a direct increase of that amount on your property tax notice. Kitimat collects a mix of a mill rate which is the amount collected for each $1,000 of assessed value of your property and a flat tax which is an established amount for each residential property. A tax rate will be determined for each class of property (residential, industrial, commercial, etc.) to reach this year’s budget needs.

While the mill rate is still to be determined, the flat tax portion of residential properties this year will reflect the 4.79 per cent increase and will be $800 for 2026.

More information about property taxes and how your home assessment plays a role in your notice is on our Budget 2026 page at getinvolved.kitimat.ca/kitimat-budget-2026.

What is included in this year’s budget?

The 2026 budget includes just over $49 million for overall operating expenditures – reflecting all departments – and $12.5 million in new capital expenses. (Also from previous budgets, just over $16 million for projects has carried over.)

Below are highlights of some, but not all, of our projects. All capital projects this year are funded through monies provided by the Resource Benefits Alliance which is special funding geared to address communities affected by large scale industrial projects.

• $300,000 for additional repairs at Kitimat Ice Rink beyond the core scope of repairs following its fire.
• $1,905,000 towards mechanical projects at Sam Lindsay Aquatic Centre.
• $75,000 towards an autoflusher to improve water quality on Gull Street.
• $600,000 for annual walkway reconstruction.
• $80,000 in temporary improvements to Nechako Centre following its demolition last year. (RBA)
• $750,000 in annual road resurfacing.
• $2.25 million for construction of a spray park.

The full list of projects is available in our budget reports at www.kitimat.ca/budget.