Council recommends 4.63 per cent budget increase

Following two online community consultations and two Budget Deliberation meetings, Chatham-Kent Council has recommended its second annual update to the 2024–2027 Multi-Year Budget.

Council is recommending a 4.63% increase for 2026, which includes 1.10% in investments to maintain existing municipal services, which is well below the 2025 inflation rate of 2.03%. The update also includes 1.76% for capital infrastructure, 0.62% toward social issues, and 1.15% for service level changes, including a successful motion to reinstate dust suppressant application on gravel roads which added 0.67%.

This represents an annual increase of $172 for an average household with an assessment value of $176,194, or $97 per $100,000 of residential assessment.

The initial forecast for 2026 was an 8.77% increase. At Mayor Darrin Canniff’s direction, staff identified 4.14% in efficiencies, including savings in insurance, reduced transfers to reserves, additional funding at Riverview Gardens, and restructuring the new Deputy CAO role.

A significant factor is the Province of Ontario’s cap on Chatham-Kent’s Ontario Community Infrastructure Funding (OCIF). Based on Chatham-Kent’s size, infrastructure needs, and formula calculations, Chatham-Kent should be receiving $29 million in OCIF funding. Instead, Chatham-Kent is capped at $10 million, leaving a $19 million annual shortfall. This cap results in a 2% additional impact on Chatham-Kent taxpayers to maintain the community’s vast network of roads, bridges, and stormwater systems.

The 0.62% investment in social issues will allow the Municipality to continue addressing complex community pressures, including homelessness, encampments, and ongoing supports through Pathways on Park, work that continues in the absence of adequate upper-level government funding.

Budget Committee Chair Councillor Brock McGregor said “I would like to thank Chatham-Kent residents for their feedback during our public engagement sessions, as well as Municipal staff who helped tremendously throughout this budget process.”

“This year’s budget is about responsibility, balance, and making tough decisions in the face of major challenges. Despite inflation, growing social demands, and the lack of fair provincial infrastructure funding, Council and staff worked together to bring the increase down significantly from where we started,” said Mayor Darrin Canniff. “Being capped at $10 million in OCIF funding, when we should be receiving $29 million, has placed an additional burden directly onto Chatham-Kent taxpayers. This gap isn’t sustainable for municipalities like ours that manage extensive rural infrastructure. We remain hopeful that the province will lift the OCIF cap and provide the funding levels communities like Chatham-Kent rely on to maintain safe, reliable roads, bridges, and drainage infrastructure.”

For more information on the 2024–2027 Municipality of Chatham-Kent Multi-Year Budget, visit the municipal webpage Our Municipal Budgets.

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For more information:

Councillor Brock McGregor

Budget Committee Chair

Brock.McGregor@chatham-kent.ca

Steve Brown, CPA, CMA

Director, Budget & Performance Services
Municipality of Chatham-Kent

Steve.Brown@chatham-kent.ca

Gord Quinton, MBA, CPA, CGA

Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer

Municipality of Chatham-Kent