Barrie homeowners face a 4.31 per cent increase in their property taxes this year.
Council gave final approval Wednesday night to the city’s 2025 operating and capital budget, which sets annual service levels and taxes.
On a typical Barrie home, assessed at $369,000 and paying $4,994 in taxes last year, the tax increase equals $215.31 more, bringing its taxes to $5,209 this year.
Mayor Alex Nuttall said the budget process was inclusive, listed the number of meetings held since last fall and went around the council table, asking each councillor if he or she wanted to speak to the budget, but found no takers.
“This is the final piece of our budget and I want to put it in perspective,” Nuttall said. “There have been more opportunities to speak to this budget (by councillors) than any budget that’s ever been passed in the city of Barrie. And I say that with confidence.”
Nuttall was speaking to Coun. Amy Courser’s comment following the Jan. 22 general committee meeting. The service partner portion of the budget was on the agenda, passed but not debated. Nuttall was under the weather and did not attend the meeting.
“It is disappointing that we are under strong mayor powers because it stifles council members' ability to have a healthy debate,” Courser had told BarrieToday.
“Folks, please watch what we’re saying publicly, because when we say that things have been stifled or (councillors) haven’t had the opportunity, but there’s actually more opportunity than there ever has been before, I take that personally,” Nuttall said.
The 4.31 per cent increase comes from two places.
The city’s infrastructure investment levy, or capital rehabilitation tax, is increasing by two per cent this year — costing the typical Barrie homeowner another $99.88 in 2025. It pays for tax-based infrastructure, to repair and replace Barrie’s roads, pipes, buildings and bridges, and for stormwater infrastructure.
The remaining 2.31 per cent increase goes to Barrie’s service partners — Barrie Police Service, the County of Simcoe, the Barrie Public Library, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and the conservation authorities. This increase adds $115 to the tax bill of that typical Barrie home.
The county provides Barrie with services that include paramedics, homelessness prevention, long-term care beds, non-profit social housing, Ontario Works, children’s services, Simcoe County Housing Corporation, community services and social housing. The city pays its share of the costs of these services.
Of that 4.31 per cent property tax increase, 1.47 per cent goes to police costs this year. The $72.24-million police budget for 2025 is $4.72 million or 6.99 per cent more than last year.
Barrie police spending is 22.58 per cent of the city’s 2025 operating budget.
Council heard deputations Wednesday — from Kaitlin Baldwin and Michael Speers — opposing the police budget and its increase this year.
“Evidence shows that higher police budgets do not lead to a safer community,” said Speers.
“What is the thing you are trying to protect or hold onto with this budget increase? What are you afraid of losing?” Baldwin asked.
There were also emergency deputations — requiring a majority vote by council to allow — on the police budget by Ash Pineau and Daisy Oliveros.
Oliveros shared her thoughts on why Barrie's police budget should be at least adequate to meet their needs.
“I firmly oppose any defunding of police, and I can briefly explain why,” she said in her request for a deputation. “It is essential to the safety of women and girls, or any vulnerable person who spends time in Barrie, to have a functioning police force that is able to respond in a timely manner.”
But Pineau said Barrie police are harming the community, that they are the problem. She used words like bullying, control, greed and manipulation.
She then turned her attention to Nuttall, who also sits on the Barrie Police Service Board.
“Alex, you should be ashamed of yourself for more reasons than I have time to list,” Pineau said. “I don’t know how you sleep at night.”
BarrieToday asked Nuttall to comment following the council meeting on what Pineau said.
“I like the idea that we have a city where you can come in and say what you believe and you can say it passionately, and certainly she was incredibly passionate about services related to people who are homeless or living in very vulnerable environments,” Nuttall said.
Spending in 2025 also came with no increase to the city portion of the operating budget — which pays for more than 60 city services such as firefighting, snow clearing, road repairs, garbage pick-up, public transit, parks and recreation, and water treatment.
To help maintain those 60-plus services, the city is spending another $7.2 million this year and a further $700,000 for new service levels. The city also plans to hire 13 full-time equivalency employees this year to help deliver services. The forecast assessment growth of $6 million in 2025 will help the balance of expenditures and revenues.
Not included in the property tax increase, but in this year’s budget and also coming from Barrie homeowners’ pockets, is an increase in the water/sewer rates.
That same typical home using 180 cubic metres of water/sewer will pay an annual water bill of $420, or $16 more than last year, and $615 for sewer, or $28.87 more than in 2024.
This is what’s called Barrie’s strong mayors budget. Nuttall instructed staff to prepare a motion approving a 2025 tax-supported base budget for city operations and the infrastructure investment fund, with gross expenditures of $342.6 million and a net property tax levy requirement of $197.8 million.
Ontario’s Municipal Act provides the head of council with the authority to give direction to city staff in writing, and a zero per cent increase in the city’s operating budget comes with this budget, according to a budget memo on mayoral direction to city staff, from Nuttall, dated July 12, 2024.
Property taxes are calculated based on the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s (MPAC) assessed value. MPAC last did a province-wide assessment in 2016, so Barrie’s property values are significantly lower than actual 2024 or 2025 market values.
Just for comparison’s sake, last year’s operating/capital budget included a 4.82 per cent tax increase to Barrie homeowners, which equaled $228 more on a typical city home assessed at $368,000. That hike also came with no increase to the city’s operating portion of 2024’s budget.