Stratford residents to see another tax increase as part of the town's 2025-26 budget

Stratford residents will see another tax increase this year as part of the P.E.I. town's budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

The hike is not unexpected; the town is in the middle year of a three-year plan to raise municipal residential taxes by two cents per year that was approved in last year's budget.

The municipal portion of residential property taxes will increase by two cents per $100 of assessed value this year, bringing it to 49 cents per $100 of assessed value. Another two-cent increase is expected next year.

For homeowners with a property valued at around $350,000, this translates to approximately $70 more in annual taxes, said Coun. Jody Jackson, the town's finance chair.

He said the increase applies only to residential properties this year, with no changes for apartments or commercial properties.

"We have lots of different things that our residents want, and we only have a certain amount of resources, so we have to be very careful," Jackson told CBC News.

"You don't like increases in taxes, but we know to provide the services that we need, we have to do that."

Jackson said Stratford, like other municipalities, is still waiting for a new revenue-sharing agreement with the province, so a municipal tax increase is necessary to continue providing the services that residents have come to expect.

Home to about 12,500 residents, Stratford is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Prince Edward Island.

Jackson said user fees will see slight increases, with recreational programming costs rising by about $5 for activities like baseball, soccer, cricket and pickleball.

Water and sewer rates will also go up by 1.9 per cent, adding around $4 per quarter for customers.

"It's the amount that we had to put on just with the growing costs out there," he said. "With a potential new revenue-sharing agreement, which we know is coming, it may allow us some flexibility into the third year of that plan."

Jackson said policing and fire services remain a major focus of the budget, accounting for about 40 per cent of the town's general government expenses.

The town added an extra RCMP officer last year, and this will be the first full year for that seventh officer.