Essex dwindles tax rate down to average 2.66%

by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative

When members of Essex Council participated in the 2026 Budget Walkthrough meeting two-weeks ago, staff presented an average tax increase of 4.92% through the draft budget document.

  Having had some time to digest the details inside the draft document, the local decision-makers chiseled away at the tax rate during its around five-hour deliberation meeting on Monday, December 8, settling on an average 2.99%, or 2.66% blended with the County, total increase.

  The average blended increase per month is $7.82, or $94 annually, above last year’s assessment.

  A 1% tax increase for the Town of Essex amounts to around $200,555 of additional revenue, Director of Corporate Services, Kate Rowe, explained. She showed a chart comparing what a 1% tax increase looks like in other municipalities. LaSalle’s, for instance, is over $473,000.

  When originally presented, the 2026 Budget included revenues and expenses totalling $80.4M, of which $21.5M is dedicated to capital initiatives.

  In accordance with the Strong Mayor Powers, Council and the Mayor waived veto power for the budget to confirm the 2026 Budget has passed.

  Ultimately, CAO Kate Giurissevich said Council showed great teamwork on what was its final budget of its term, as the next Municipal Election will take place in the fall.

  They were able to come to a rate that helps administration and also makes sure residents, and fiscal responsibility, were thought of, as well, she said.

  Mayor Sherry Bondy thanked administration for their work on the file, and keeping in mind Essex has four centres with competing needs. She called this a “really well-balanced budget in terms of going forward and maintaining our level of service.”

  Budget changes since the Walkthrough meeting:

Before Council began deliberations on Monday, Director Rowe said a few changes had been made to the 2026 Draft Budget. That included insurance savings of around $102,000 and the Essex Region Conservation Authority’s 2026 Budget came in $7,500 lower than originally implemented into the Essex Budget. Both of these files were presented at the December 1 regular Council meeting.

  Further savings were found for the Essex Recreation Centre, amounting to $30,000. In addition, the Town was notified the OPP contract would realize the full 11% increase, or $351,000, built into the Town’s Budget. That translates to a 1.75% increase to the Town’s budget.

  That brought the original average levy down to 4.3%.

  Budget changes made to achieve the average 2.66% increase and other approvals:

One of the big decisions to achieve that outcome was reducing the 1% levy built into the 2026 Budget in support of the Town’s Asset Management Plan (AMP) – which supports asset maintenance and replacement – by half.

  Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley suggested the reduction.

  The Town does have an adopted AMP, which has indicated the Town needs to put away 2.2% to be fully funded, CAO Giurissevich told Council. Other municipalities, she added, are not adopting the full amount and are staggering it in, knowing they may need to use other tools, like investment income, or delaying replacements to stretch out the AMP, as well.

  She noted the Town’s Core Asset Management Plan was adopted in 2022. At the time, the recommendation was to have a 1.9% levy each year for 20-years. The 2025 draft version recommended a combined 3.2% for core and non-core assets for a 20-year period.

  Giurissevich added the Town has investment income planned for the reserve for 2026.

  In terms of municipal debt, Giurissevich explained the Town can borrow up to 25% of its other source revenue. Previously, Council had passed a resolution not to exceed 15%, leaving room for any urgent or emergency issues. Its current debt level was around 8.5% in 2024. In 2023, additional debt will have to be taken on to fund replacement assets, it is anticipated to rise to $23M.

  She added there is healthy debt.  

  Shepley pointed to the investment plan coming that will more than make-up for the gap for the AMP.

  “This is the best time to do it. It is going to help our residents out. It has been a tough four-years for them, in paying the tax increases that – while minimal as we could keep them – they have been there. This would be a great year to keep our tax rate low and we can certainly make this up, once we do our investment strategy,” Shepley said.

  If it wasn’t for the investment strategy coming, he would not suggest this.

  Councillor Katie McGurire-Blais believed that was a bad idea. If anything, she wanted to increase it from 1%.

  “I think it is very irresponsible for us to make that decision,” she said.

  Councillor Jason Mayti responded he believes spending taxpayers money on non-core assets is irresponsible.

  Mayor Bondy said last term, she inherited a Council where the Town had two out of the four-year term, a zero-budget increase. “That impacted us this year,” she said. “Our administration has a good plan here, in terms of asset management, and I want to support this Asset Management Plan.”

  No one wants to raise taxes, she said, however the value residents are getting this year is great.  

  In a recorded vote, Bondy, McGuire-Blais, and Councillor Brad Allard were opposed, while Shepley, Councillor Kim Verbeek, Councillor Joe Garon, Councillor Rodney Hammond, and Matyi were in favour.

  “I just think it is time we sharpen our pencil for the taxpayer,” Shepley told the Essex Free Press.  

  In addition, Council approved:

• Three new positions: A Network Systems Administrator with an impact on the budget of $65,000 in restructuring Corporate Services Clerk to Revenue Services Clerk; an Assistant Manager of Financial Analysis & Planning with an impact if $136,910 to focus on grant writing and support the planning and execution of new financial software; and a Communications and Events Coordinator with an impact of $65,700, with the elimination of the communications summer intern position (this title will be changed).

The need for the first two positions was identified through an organizational review, the third through an internal business case open to departments to make a request, Giurissevich commented.

The Assistant Manager of Financial Analysis & Planning will start later in June. That savings reduced the budget impact.

The Youth in Action Students program was approved with a $12,356 impact on the Budget to partner with Community Living Essex County to continue the program and help with inclusion. This will allow for two part-time positions year-round as housekeeping facility assistants and one youth in action position for six-weeks in the summer. This was implemented in 2025 and was a successful program, Giurissevich said.

• Before Budget Deliberations Mayor Sherry Bondy’s motion to add an affordable housing subsidy to the Budget for consideration and have admin investigate options for it, was approved. She hoped to put aside $12,500 for the program that housing non-profits could tap into to get engineering assessments done, which are needed to apply for larger grants for repairs, etc.

Councillor McGuire-Blais did not believe it should be part of the Budget as she believes it will only benefit one entity in Town. She believes there may be programs that entity could tap into provincially.

The Town has $8,000 left in its 2025 Council Contingency Fund that could be used for this, if the program is developed. This is a fund Council can tap into to support ad hoc initiatives throughout the year.

Ultimately, a motion was passed to use the remaining $8,000 in the 2025 Council Contingency Fund for this only, if the program is developed.

• Council spoke about the amount needed for the Council Contingency fund, and cut it down to $12,500, with the intention it return to $25,000 for the next Term of Council’s deliberations.

• Council pulled the fencing put into the Budget for the Harrow OPP station, as a potential relocation is being analysed.

• The $25,000 set in the budget for a tourism marketing action plan was removed, as Council has not dealt with the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT), those dollars – if approved – could be used for that. Shepley moved this, and McGuire-Blais voiced support. She believes the BIA would be interested in taking that on. This was a plan to identify an approach.

Key highlights:

• Fire Station 3 and parking lot for $5.2M through long-term debt. The current facility has reached the end of its useful life and does not have proper vehicle exhaust extraction systems. It will be located at the Harrow Soccer Complex. The hope is to have shovels in the ground in early 2026, Fire Chief Jason Pillon said.

• $1.3M to replace Fire Engine 3 from the Asset Management Reserve as the current vehicle has reached its end-of-life-cycle and parts are obsolete. This was pre-approved for the budget.

• $200,000, half from the Co-An Park Reserve and the other from the Town of Amherstburg, for the Co-An Park Assessment to determine long-term priorities of the park.

• $582,000 for an amphitheatre at Heritage Gardens Park, funded through sponsorship and naming rights. So far, $500,000 in sponsorship and naming rights has been secured. If additional commitments are secured, the design can be higher-quality.

• Full reconstruction of Maidstone Avenue/Talbot Street intersection for $3M.

• Hot mix asphalt resurfacing on: Joan Flood Drive for $115,000; Grondin Avenue, Stewart Street, and Charles Street in McGregor for $510,000; $325,000 for Harrison Street, Jackson Street, Sydenham Street, and Bagot Street;

• Iler Road rehabilitation phase 2 for $650,000, from Huffman to County Road 50;

• $350,000 for South Malden Road rehabilitation phase 1. Funding sources varied for the projects.

Council-directed projects to the Budget made throughout the year

• Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley introduced a pedestrian crossing for Erie Street South and Wellington Avenue for $25,000. He believes it is an important project. In asking if there was a reserve that this could be paid from instead of taxation, he was told the Trail Reserve. This was passed to be paid for out of the Trail Reserve.

• Councillor McGuire-Blais introduced a pedestrian crossing for Irwin Avenue and Gosfield Townline for $15,000. This was a request from the residents, she said. This was removed.

• Councillor McGuire-Blais also introduced traffic studies for South Talbot Road and Victoria Avenue and Hanlan Street and Victoria Avenue for $10,000. Discussion noted that other projects planned for the area that could improve flow, Council did not pass this.

• Councillor Allard introduced a traffic study for Nottingham Drive for $10,000. This was brought to him by a resident. Councillor Matyi said he receives complaints about this area nearly every weekend. The success of a commercial business has created more traffic in the area during the summer months. Council moved to have Public Works look at the situation to see if there are any safety improvements that could be implemented, such as gathering data through the annual traffic report the Town hosts.

 Essex Centre BIA levy increase approved for 1.5%, with levy cap of $6400.

Essex Council also approved the Essex Centre BIA Budget, which was needed as a Board of the Town of Essex.

  The BIA originally asked for a 3% increase to its own budget. That’s up from the 2.2% increase it asked for last year. Rowe said the BIA implemented a 3.9% increase in 2024 and 2.6% increase in 2023. The BIA also asked the Town to approve an increase to its levy cap for large businesses from $6,300 to $6,500 for 2026. That was raised last year, as well.

Deputy Mayor Shepley wanted to see it tied to a 1.5% increase, as the tax rate will go up, too. To some of the larger businesses, that can be a larger increase with the levy cap increase. He was not inclined to see that increased as well. He motioned for the 1.5% levy increase and that the levy cap be $6400. That carried.