Saanich approves 2026 budget with property tax hike of 5.35%

On Tuesday, the District of Saanich approved their 2026 Financial Plan which includes a property tax hike of 5.35%

According to the District, this increase will equate to approximately $215 more for homeowners and $113 more for strata owners in 2026.

When the budget was first presented to council, it included a near $13.5 million increase, which would have seen property taxes increase by 7.08%.

After making cuts to the budget throughout the past few months, around $3.3 million was trimmed from the financial plan, which saw the property tax increase reduced to what it is now. 

Some of those cuts included $647,800 in delayed hiring for municipal positions, $342,100 in delayed hiring for Saanich Police positions, a combined $647,000 in deferred capital spending for the District’s Active Transportation Plan, $1,425,300 in delayed infrastructure replacement spending and $227,000 in reduced information technology costs. 

Of the 5.35% property tax increase, the District says that 2.96% will go towards core operations, 0.49% is for capital funding, 1.65% is for policing and 0.25% will go towards increased library services.

The 2026 budget will see the lowest property tax increase for Saanich residents since 2022. 

Last year, the increase was set at 8.02%, in 2024 it was 7.93%, in 2023 it was 7.2% and before that, in 2022, the increase was set at 3.53%. 

During Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting, councillors spoke to different facets of the budget, speaking up for the programs and services they see as critical. 

The budget was greenlit during the meeting by a unanimous vote. 

Next steps for Saanich’s budget will see it be officially approved through council by mid-May.