Average household to see a $155 increase
LAURIE WEIR
Smiths Falls council reviewed a revised 2025 budget on Feb. 18, with treasurer and director of corporate services Paul Dowber presenting a tax levy increase of 5.11 per cent—down two percentage points from the second draft shared two weeks earlier.
Councillors had requested further reductions in capital expenditures, aiming to trim an additional $400,000 to lower the overall tax increase. Water and wastewater rates have also increased by 5.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively. The original budget draft had proposed a 9.6 per cent levy hike.
Dowber identified several cost-saving measures, including one-time fee reductions for compost site monitoring ($25,000) and economic development consulting ($15,000), totalling $40,000, covered through the stabilization reserve.
A proposed new public works staff position, budgeted at $102,000, was deferred to 2026. This role would have focused on identifying underground utilities. Additionally, delaying new hires until April saved $60,000, while switching to a new Rogers cell phone contract cut another $30,000.
Other savings included a $30,000 reduction in police overtime costs and an $8,000 adjustment to the upgraded library budget after efficiency efforts by the library’s CEO—“a nice surprise,” Dowber said.
Council also debated a $50,000 grant commitment to the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario for roof repairs. Dowber proposed cutting it to $25,000—the first instalment of a five-year, $250,000 commitment. Coun. Chris McGuire supported maintaining the full $50,000 but sought assurance that the museum would install a steel roof instead of asphalt, which would require landfill disposal in 30 years.
Mayor Shawn Pankow noted that maintaining the full grant would push the tax levy to 5.11 per cent or 5.12 per cent. Council could either fund the difference from reserves—an option CAO Malcolm Morris advised against, as it is a multi-year commitment—or raise the levy.
Dowber will return to the Feb. 18 council meeting with the final budget, reflecting a 5.11 per cent to 5.12 per cent levy increase. For a home assessed at $169,000, this will mean an approximate $155 increase in property taxes.
Coun. Jay Brennan noted that the tax calculations are still based on outdated 2016 MPAC assessments.
