The Nation municipal council found itself defending the 2025 budget when a petition from more than 1,200 residents was presented at the Monday, February 10 council meeting.
On December 16, 2024, council adopted the 2025 budget with a 9.51 per cent increase in the property tax levy. The average assessment value of a residential property in The Nation is $300,000. For a property with that value, the property taxes in 2025 are increasing by $222.19, or $18.52 per month.
Resident Steven Gingras said “I fell off my chair,” when he found out about the levy increase.
He presented a petition signed by 438 residents to council requesting a more gradual tax increase that would reduce the sudden impact upon property owners. The petition requested no salary increases for staff and council in 2025 and 2026, a delay of expenditures, and that the 2025 budget be rescinded and revisited. Gingras said the residents want a publicly consulted, and long-term budget plan without what he described as “unsustainable surprises.”
There were 438 valid signatures on the petition. It initially had 1,233 signatures but 795 signatures had to be removed because of the individuals who signed.
“I understand your point of view,” responded Ward 6 Councillor Marjorie Drolet.
She emphasized that the administration worked extremely hard to find solutions when faced with increased costs. Drolet noted that during the budget preparation process, cuts were made to recreation and vehicle purchases.
Gingras said the increase was a surprise. He said residents are facing increased costs due to inflation and higher heating expenses, and alleged the municipality has no long-term budget plan.
“That is very unacceptable and disrespectful to us residents,” Gingras commented.
Ward 1 Councillor Tim Stewart said there are rumours on social media and email that council had not done the hard work or made the effort to keep costs down. Stewart said he wanted to emphasize hard work was done and difficult decisions were made. He gave four examples. The first was council decided to close the outdoor rink in Fournier. Second; the Fournier fire station was closed with an estimated $1 million in savings. Third; the municipality is considering downloading the ownership and management of community halls to volunteer committees, and fourth; public library funding was reduced by $200,000, which resulted in the retirement of the former library CEO, the resignation of almost the entire library board, and a three-month closure of all library branches.
Stewart said the decisions have had a real effect on the communities and he’s “lost a lot of sleep” because of them. He emphasized a lot of effort went into creating the 2025 budget.
“We put a lot of time into it. I feel terrible about a 9.5 per cent increase,” Stewart said.
He added that unlike the federal government, the municipality must balance its budget.
“We cannot print money, we cannot run a deficit, we have to balance,” remarked Stewart.
Gingras said that based upon Facebook comments, many residents are not understanding the challenges associated with the 2025 budget. He suggested improved communication from the municipality could be helpful and noted not every resident closely follows decisions made by council.
Mayor Francis Brière noted all budget meetings were announced and open to the public. He said 20 hours were devoted to budget preparation.
“There was nothing that was hidden, it was transparent from the beginning,” Brière emphasized.
The mayor also referred to the considerable amount of stress resulting from the challenges and difficult decisions made during the establishment of The Nation’s 2025 budget.
