Bruce County Council received the draft 2025 budget this week, which proposes a 6.81 per cent tax levy increase.
According to staff, the budget keeps the levy increase moderate while focusing on key strategic initiatives like investing in healthcare, developing services to support the agriculture sector and funding for an Additional Residential Unit (ARU) pilot program to address housing affordability.
The county says about four per cent of the proposed levy amount is needed to continue to deliver the services and infrastructure that exist today.
The other 2.7 per cent is for new services or assets that are outlined in the 2023-26 Strategic Plan.
"Council has worked diligently over the past two years to set the strategic direction for the County," said Warden Chris Peabody. "We appreciate staff tabling a 2025 draft budget that aligns to that strategy. Council will discuss this budget over the coming weeks to deliver for Bruce County, balancing investment in needed infrastructure and services, with fiscal reasonability."
Staff also noted the county faces budget pressures due to upper levels of government, citing findings from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, that show that only 8 cents of every tax dollar goes to municipalities.
County Council will continue to review the budget and could potentially approval and adopt it in December.