The City of Morden has a budget in place for 2026 that Mayor Nancy Penner believes strikes a good balance in terms of getting some projects done but also not posing a big financial burden on taxpayers.
Morden city council last Tuesday introduced a budget of just over $26.1 million, which is an increase of over $984,000 or 3.9 per cent from the 2025 budget.
The mill rate, which is the basis for determining municipal taxes, is set at 16.276, an increase of about 3.9 per cent over last year. So it means, for example, if you had a home valued at about $336,000, it works out roughly to a $93 increase on your municipal taxes over the year before.
In addition, residents pay special levies for waste and recycling, for the Boundary Trails Health Centre and the Menzies Medical Clinic, and the École Discovery Trails school track project.
“I think it’s a very fiscally responsible budget for the city. We are able to get some work done in the city and go forward,” said Penner. “We look at things like the cost of living … and I think it’s a fiscally responsible increase. The impact on the residents, I think, is within the cost of inflation.
“Even though the operational costs for the city are increasing, the mill rate is reflective of the conditions,” she continued. “We are trying to be prudent with our operating expenses, but at the same time, we’re putting money away in our reserve funds. We are making sure that we have some money put away for emergencies … those reserve funds can help stabilize our mill rate so that we don’t see big fluctuations.”
Penner said the budget planning required the city to address what they felt is most important right now, so they obviously can’t do everything they would like to accomplish.
“If we could pave every street that needed some work done, absolutely, but we look at priorities. We have to look at projects that really need to be done and forward planning … what can we do this year and build on for next year.”
For council, that meant choosing to focus on such projects as developing the 40-acre parcel of land north on First Street and doing some road work there for better access to the 40 acre parcel.
There of course are also routine things like the need for a new front loader, but a key thing is a $4 million commitment for the design work for the wastewater treatment project.
Penner said it is vital that the city addresses the wastewater challenge as that is what is hampering Morden’s continued growth and development.
“We have to remember the city is growing slowly, but without our tax base growing, because of our wastewater restrictions, I think we have a very fiscally responsible budget considering our tax base is not growing as fast as we would like to see it grow because wastewater is restricting our growth.”
Even their investment in expanding the industrial park is restricted, she noted.
“Down the road, we see a bright future, but right now, I think we should be really pleased with how fiscally responsible our city is being in terms of holding the line and being wise with spending the dollars that we have,” suggested Penner.
For the city, about 40 per cent of its revenue comes through municipal taxes, with the remainder resulting from such things as reserves, grants, and user fees.
The main source of revenue is through the municipal tax levy with an overall estimate of $21,549,463.52, which is an increase of $742,417 or 3.5 per cent from 2025. Other revenue comes in at $8,570,226.72, which is an 8.9 per cent increase from the 2025 budget. Transfers from accumulated surplus and reserve funds comes in $5,166,747.87—a 33 per cent increase from the 2025 budget.
There is a boost in various other revenues ranging from the provision of recreation services including the beach to the provision of policing and fire services to the RM of Stanley.
Federal government grants are decreasing by almost half, but provincial government grants are increasing. There is provincial municipal tax sharing of $2,792,763, federal grants of $579,601 and provincial grants of $1,920,425. Sales of recreation services account for $1,155,049, and sales of services from the beach come in at $429,500. Sales of protective services add up to $356,772, while returns from investments come in at $328,000.
Here is a breakdown of the areas of expenditures:
• Fiscal services – $9,009,599.76, which represents almost no change from 2025. The brunt of it is almost $7.8 million towards capital projects then $874,000 in debenture debt charges.
• Protective services – $4,103,375, which is a 5.8 per cent increase. It includes police staffing costs of over $2.8 million and fire department staffing costs of over $300,000.
• Community services – $4,071,529, which is a 3.6 per cent increase. Big ticket items include $2.2 million towards recreation, $850,000 towards parks and urban forestry and almost $402,000 to the Morden beach and campground. In addition, there is $264,000 going to the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre and $225,000 to library services.
• Transfers to reserves – $2,633,675, which is a 1.7 per cent increase. It includes $1.1 million into general reserves, $886,000 to replacement reserve and $579,000 to gas tax reserve.
• General government services – $2,362,376, which is a 17.1 per cent increase. It is primarily administrative staffing but also such areas as IT costs and damage and liability insurance.
• Transportation services – $1,938,604, which is a 3.8 per cent increase. It includes planning and engineering costs of $635,000, equipment repairs and maintenance of over $259,000 and snow and ice removal of over $224,000.
• Environment health services – $945,242, which is a 4.6 per cent increase. It includes $433,000 for recycling and $263,000 for garbage collection.
• Economic development services – $634,007, which is a 2.7 per cent increase that includes $327,000 towards community development.
• Public health and welfare services – $427,910, which is no change from the 2025 budget and includes $400,000 to Menzies Medical Centre.
• Environmental development services – no change at $1,250.
