Niverville increases taxes by 2.5 percent for 2026, but lowers mill rate

The Town of Niverville approved its 2026 budget on Tuesday, which will see residents paying 2.5 percent more on their taxes than last year, but council has lowered the mill rate to 9.273 mills, compared to last year’s 11.659 mills.

“We passed a 2.5 percent tax rate increase for the community. It’s lower than inflation, and we’re able to keep it low thanks to growth,” said Mayor Myron Dyck.

“So, when your assessment moves, you can choose to either keep your mill rate the same, which means that essentially your tax rate’s going up by the same as your assessment percentage, or you can reduce the mill rate, which is what we did, to get it to 2.5 percent…And some communities are choosing to (increase the mill rate), but we chose not to,” he added when asked if council took into consideration the increase in property values as last year was a reassessment year for the province.

The increase will see residents paying $57.04 more on their property taxes if their home was valued at $399,800.

School taxes

The Hanover School Division has set its mill rate to 13.32 mills, which is an increase of 7.97 percent from 2025. The increase will see a homeowner paying $53 more on their school taxes if their home is valued at $354,000. Homeowners can get tax relief through the Provincial Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit (HATC) to a maximum of $1,600.

Revenue

Revenue was budgeted to $23.3 million, about $3 million more than last year. The tax levy for 2025 was $13.3 million and for 2026 it is $12.7 million, while for 2027 it is budgeted to $13.6 million.

Niverville will see $520,932 in conditional grants and transfers into its coffers this year, including the Government of Canada’s gas tax of $344,482 and Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba and Waste Reduction and Recycling Support funding of $143,000 for recycling.

Other revenue totalled $3.9 million.

Expenditures

About $23.3 million is earmarked for spending in 2026 with about $2 million going to recreation and cultural services, with $1.1 million set aside for community centres and halls; $1.9 million going to general government services, which includes $17,000 for October’s election; about $1.86 million going to transportation (roads and sidewalks); $1.5 million to protective services; and about $1.7 million to fiscal services.

Dyck said the 14.45 percent increase in funding for protective services is due to the new RCMP detachment that opened in town, which council has budgeted $851,626 and an increase in volunteer firefighters (fire services received $297,222), while EMR services got $107,585.

The reconstruction of PR 311 will see traffic flow better through the community as the two-year $17.7 million project progresses, according to Dyck.

He also said construction of the $235 million Red-Seine-Rat water treatment plant project broke ground a few weeks ago.

“It has started, and that’s about a four-year project, and so we’re excited to see that moving forward.”

Other expenditures in the budget include transfers from the general reserve totaling $13.2 million, an increase from 2025’s total of $11.4 million.

The municipality’s long-term debt is $119,510.

Utilities

The utility operating revenue for sewer is budgeted at $821,772, which largely comes from residential sewer service charges of $764,000, or $24,000 more than last year.

Utility sewer expenses are budgeted at $622,573.

The utility operating revenue for water is $979,900, or about $73,000 more than last year, largely due to residential sales ($759,200). Expenses for the water utility are budgeted at $858,255.

Capital projects

Capital projects will have a budget of $13.2 million, which will be paid for through reserves. Some of the projects for this year include sewer utility improvements ($3.1 million), some of which will go towards the Red-Seine-Rat water treatment plant and a generator for the Claremont Lift Station; road reconstruction and sidewalks ($1.2 million), some of which will be used for savings for the Main Street re-design and build project and upgrades to PR 311 West; road projects ($1.7 million); and the fire hall and shop ($2.5 million).

Council has allocated $26.2 million over the next five years for capital projects, largely spent on recreation ($5.9 million); protective services ($4.5 million); road reconstruction ($5.9 million); public works and facilities equipment ($1.2 million); and sewer utility ($7 million).

“Oh, gosh. I think that’s a tough question because, you know, when you have things of magnitude that we’re doing, the fire hall, the PR 311, the RSR, building a public works building, they’re all important, right? And so just happy to see things moving forward. I can’t really say I have a favorite,” said Dyck when asked what capital project he is more looking forward to in 2026.

Taxes are to be paid by Sept. 29.