Oliver Paipoonge approves $19 million budget
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: The Chronicle-Journal
Oliver Paipoonge property taxes are to rise by just over two per cent in 2026, as the municipality defers some major capital projects while moving ahead with more than $1 million in various equipment purchases that weren’t able to be carried out in 2025.
The current 2.16-per-cent hike was approved on Wednesday, when council voted 4-1 in favour of a $19-million budget.
As in previous years, Coun. Donna Peacock was the vote’s lone dissenter. Peacock has maintained the municipality should wait a few more weeks to pass its budget, when it has more information.
Council had initially asked municipal managers to aim for a 2.5-per-cent increase for this year.
The approved increase means that the owner of a home valued at $400,000 will pay $4,370 in property taxes this year, about $92 more than 2025, according to an example provided by the municipality.
Of the $19-million expenditure, $10.2 million is to come from local taxes. Exactly how much homeowners pay depends on the value of their property, which is set by the province.
And of the $19 million approved on Wednesday, $11 million is for operating costs and $8 million is for capital expenses, according to a budget report.
Coun. Bernie Kamphof said the budget aimed to have some projects completed, such as road repairs, while not hitting taxpayers too deeply.
“I think we struck a balance between what we needed to do, and what we had the resources to do,” Kamphof said on Friday.
He added: “We don’t really have one big project that stands out.”
Kamphof supports passing the budget early in the year so that municipal managers can have a head start on issuing contracts for various capital projects.
During last fall’s budget deliberations, managers proposed nearly $21 million in capital requirements. In the end, some major projects were deferred, including a repair of the Harstone bridge and upgrades to the NorWest Recreation complex.
The budget report said $1.1 million is to be spent in 2026 for about 20 items that were not completed last year, including $215,000 to replace a backhoe, $273,000 for a pumper unit for the fire department and $159,000 for a Zamboni ice-cleaner at the NorWest Recreation complex.
Though those projects “will be funded out of reserves,” the report said, the municipality is expected to end up with $6.6 million in reserves by the end of this year.
According to the budget report, administrative costs were to rise slightly to $1.4 million to cover the cost of holding October’s municipal election and computer expenses. In the end, the figure came in at $1.1 million after revenues were taken into account.
Mayor Lucy Kloosterhuis, who was not immediately available this week to comment on the budget, announced earlier that she is not running for re-election.
Policing costs weren’t known when the budget was passed, but the municipality is allowing for a 10-per-cent increase for policing, the budget report says.
Oliver Paipoonge, the only rural Northwestern Ontario municipality not to employ the OPP, is policed under a contract with the Thunder Bay Police Service.
Fire and emergency services are rising to $1.5 million, compared to $650,000 last year. The increases are “largely due” to projects left over from 2025, including diesel extractors and trucks, the budget report said.
Kamphof said maintaining the municipality’s fire department, which encompasses six fire halls, is a fairly constant budgetary expense.
Putting off work on the Harstone bridge — currently restricted to light-vehicle traffic — helped significantly reduce the public works budget to $3.2 million, about $800,000 less than last year.
A proposed major upgrade to the NorWest Recreation complex, originally to cost $2.74 million, was cut down to $477,000 when “third-party” funds turned out to be unavailable, the report said.
The amount for the complex left to local taxpayers in the budget document is only $17,000, about $3,000 less than the 2025 amount. But the amount for general recreation — pegged at $389,000 — went up by about $17,000 compared to last year.
The budget report also noted that the cost of the Highway 130 and Twin City Crossroads project was reduced by $250,000.
