Council approves 2026/2027 budget

PICTOU - The Municipality of Pictou County has approved its 2026/27 operating budget, holding the residential, resource and commercial tax rates while funding core services, capital needs and community priorities.

Council for the Municipality of Pictou County voted to approve a balanced $32,612,296 general operating budget for the April 2026 to March 2027 fiscal year. The budget maintains the tax rate at $0.815 per $100 of assessed value for residential and resource properties and $1.825 per $100 of assessed value for commercial properties.

While the tax rate is unchanged, individual tax bills may still vary because of changes in property assessments. Assessments are set independently by the Property Valuation Services Corporation.

Warden Robert Parker said he was pleased they were able to hold the tax rate, which was possible thanks to growth in the assessment roll because of new construction, increased assessments in general and removal of the cap on properties that have been sold.

“The Council continues to watch all expenses closely as we know that your taxation dollars, for many, are hard come by,” Warden Parker said. “Many of our high cost items are shared with our municipal partners and are harder to control like the Wellness Centre, other rinks and pools, libraries, the landfill site and the sewage treatment plant.

Warden Parker said Council knows that significant increased costs are on the way because of changing Provincial regulations with policing, fire departments and emergency management.

“These are mandated changes by a senior level of government and, while not judging them, our Council has very little control over their costs,” he said. “Overall, we continue to monitor all spending closely and, at the same time, deliver services that our taxpayers deserve in an equitable and fair manner.”

Protective services remain the largest municipal operating expense, with $10,086,410 budgeted for police protection, fire protection, by-law enforcement, emergency management and related services. The Municipality will also make a mandatory education contribution of $7,076,132. Together, these two areas account for more than half of the general operating budget.

The budget also includes $3,948,384 for general government services, $3,906,031 for environmental health services, $918,397 for recreation services, $803,909 for transportation services, $745,788 for environmental development and $433,498 for cultural services. It also allocates $1,027,400 to the General Capital Fund to support capital work across the Municipality.