Preliminary discussions on the 2026 budget have already resulted in some adjustments.
Council amended the capital budget at its meeting on Monday to include $42,000 for upgrades to pay-and-display parking machines in municipal lots.
At the November 10, 2025 meeting, Council approved implementing two-hour free parking in municipal parking lots within the Belleville Downtown Improvement Area boundaries.
This will entitle each vehicle to two-hour free parking, in the specified parking lots, before paid parking is required.
Funding is slated to come from the city’s Parking Reserve Fund, which carries a balance of $684,000 to support the cost of the upgrades.
Manager of by-law enforcement Aggie Hill stated in a report to council that parts for the upgrades will arrive within three to four months of ordering.
The free parking is expected to be in place by the spring of this year.
Also on Monday, the city’s director of finance Brandon Ferguson introduced the draft 2026 operating budget to council.
The potential tax impact to residents ranges from 5.32-per cent in the city’s urban area to 7.28 per cent in the transitional Cannifton Rural to Urban region.
Through operating budget guidelines issued to the August 25 council meeting, residential property tax rate increases are exceed 5-per cent and any tax rate increases generated from the 2024 Fire Master Plan phase-in approved by Council.
The full draft budget overview can be seen at this link.
A more detailed budget discussion will come on Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. inside council chambers.
