Not surprisingly, Dauphin residents can expect to see a slight increase in their property tax bills for 2026.

At a special meeting last night, council began the process of adopting the financial plan, which includes a five per cent increase over last year.

The 2026 mill rate of 19.021 is expected to raise just over $8.1 million compared to 2025 when 18.196 raised slightly more than $7.6 million.

When other sources of revenue are added in, the balance sheet for 2026 sets income and expenditures at $23,377,468.

Some of the other revenue sources include taxes added of $50,000; municipal service fees of $12,500, Accommodation Tax income of $440,000; business licenses of $87,500; fines totalling $100,000; sales of goods and services totalling just over $1.8 million; a provincial municipal operating grant  of $1,133,307; a provincial public safety grant of $1,228,312.

“I think the budget reflects investments in our community,” mayor David Bosiak said, adding it reflects council’s commitment to moving the community forward “one step after another.”

“That’s what I like to believe and that’s what we’ve heard from the public. We’re not spending money crazily and we’re not spending money on ourselves in the sense that this is for the community. This is stuff that some people in the community would say, ‘Hey, I wanted that sooner,’ or ‘I wanted more.’ And that’s where we say ‘well, we can only do so much, but we’re doing something.’ So, here it is.

“Council was, I would say, unanimously in agreement to what we came up with in the budget.”

Read the full story in this week’s edition of the Dauphin Herald.