Abbotsford (Release from Abbotsford City Council) – This week City Council endorsed the City’s 2026-2030 Financial Plan, with an emphasis on the 2026 budget. The Financial Plan outlines how we will be allocating the City’s financial resources for the coming year and the years to come.
This year there will be a property tax revenue increase of 4.44 per cent, plus a 0.5 per cent infrastructure levy for a total of 4.94 per cent. This increase is due to rising cost pressures felt across the region as well as market conditions including the labour market, contractual obligations, the cost of capital projects, and inflation. The budget prioritizes investments in public safety, transportation and utilities, roads, parks and community amenities. View the draft Financial Plan at abbotsford.ca/draftfinancialplan2026.
A lot of thinking goes into how we formulate and decide on a property tax revenue increase, with staff aligning the Financial Plan with our 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. As a Council, our strategic priorities include having strong fiscal discipline and managing our City’s finances with exceptional care. That means making sure our financial decisions consider long-term costs alongside the value of our services and programs to the community.
Having an unusually low or even zero per cent property tax rate may provide some immediate relief for residents and business owners, but, as Sir Isaac Newton taught us, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It’s our responsibility to fund the vital services that our residents and businesses rely on. Lower taxes or no tax increase means cost-cutting, reduced or even cut service levels and potentially deferring maintenance programs. A zero per cent tax increase would likely result in higher service fees or even short-term debt to pick up the slack, and a few years down the line residents could end up having to foot a significant bill once the consequences of underfunding City services start piling up.
In our view, this kind of short-term and political financial decision making goes against the disciplined, considered and long-term approach that we have been taking throughout our term. By keeping taxes reasonable and predictable, not only does it ensure that we can maintain service levels, but it also helps us as we plan for the future. For example, multi-year, big-ticket items like the new AbbyPD headquarters are possible because we have an expectation of the amount of money coming into City coffers. It also sets the foundation for future recreational and cultural amenities that we know are needed as we grow.
As usual, residents had the chance to provide feedback on the draft budget plan at the end of our public budget meetings on Feb. 10 and 11. Those who couldn’t make it have until Feb. 20 to email their comments to the City’s Finance Department at finance_info@abbotsford.ca.
