Kenora city council passes 2026 budget

Kenora city council has unanimously passed the 2026 municipal budget.

This year, it comes with a 3.74 percent increase.

Mayor Andrew Poirier says the city itself managed to hold the line on spending, but it’s the external agencies like the OPP, the Northwestern Health Unit and the Kenora District Services Board that are pushing the city’s spending up.

“I’m not making excuses for the external agencies as to the increase, but if we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t even have a 1 percent increase in taxes,” Poirier told council at its open meeting Tuesday night.

“We strive to make efficiencies within the Operating budget of the City of Kenora and we’ve done quite well.”

Poirier also gives kudos to city staff for keeping the increase manageable.

“I think everybody did a really good job on the budget. Are we going to continue to look for other ways of doing things and efficiencies? Absolutely! We are going to continue that, and we should continue that, year in and year out.”

Total spending this year is just over $49.15 million dollars.

That includes $6.1 million dollars in the capital budget, transfers to reserve funds and debt payments.