After 4 years of cuts, Fredericton proposes to keep property tax rate unchanged

Fredericton homeowners should not expect a tax cut this year.

The City of Fredericton is proposing to keep the status quo for its inside property tax rate after four years of cuts, and city officials say that decision is directly related to the Susan Holt government’s decision to freeze property tax rates in 2026.

Fredericton City Council has to vote on the proposal during a meeting Monday evening before it’s formally approved.

Fredericton’s treasurer Alicia Keating said between 2022 and 2025, the city’s tax rate was cut by just over 12 cents per $100 of assessment.

But with an estimated loss between $11 and $15 million because of the provincial government’s property assessment freeze, announced in May, she said the city couldn’t budget another cut.

“The vast majority of property tax bills next year will be the exact same as they were for 2025,” she told reporters.

Keating said they made the decision to maintain a balanced budget and adjust for inflationary pressures.

“We have seen large increases, the same as a typical homeowner would have, for lights and power, for fuel, for just regular repairs and maintenance that we see on our aging infrastructure and our vehicles,” she said.

The move to freeze assessments after years of increasing property values was to allow the Holt government to take the first steps toward an overhaul of the entire property tax system – something the Liberals promised during the 2024 election campaign.

Councillor Greg Ericson, who’s also chair of the 2026 budget process, said the freeze has a “profound” impact.

“I think what we’ve seen in the numbers presented is that it basically absorbed any substantial potential for a tax rate decrease, and limited the number of projects that we could consider,” he told reporters.

Fredericton has seen a 35 per cent growth in its entire population base over the last decade, adding almost 20,000 residents in that time.

That comes with a greater demand on services, especially public safety. The proposed budget for that department sees an increase of about $1.3 million.

“We might have to delay projects in year that haven’t been completed or not do some of the services in the way that we might have liked to. But overall, I’m confident that this balanced budget is providing a safe budget for the City of Fredericton,” Keating said.

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