Regional Council approves a Budget and Business Plan and a Capital Plan every year. The municipal budget funds all costs associated with servicing a growing municipality.
This includes day-to-day municipal operations (i.e., transit, police, fire, garbage collection, snow clearing), capital priority initiatives approved by Regional Council (i.e., HalifACT, the Cogswell District project, the Integrated Mobility Plan) - as well as capital projects and investments to purchase, construct, rehabilitate and replace municipal assets like buildings, roads, active transportation, parks and bridges.
Regional Council has started the process of developing the 2025/26 municipal budget.
Municipal budget key dates
There are several milestones in the annual municipal budget process. Below are the key dates for the 2025/26 municipal budget process:
- Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 – 2023/24 Strategic Performance Report and Snapshot. Regional Council will receive the 2023/24 Strategic Performance Report, outlining progress on strategic key performance indicators intended to assess advancement on approved priorities from the Strategic Priorities Plan 2021-25.
- Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025 – Budget Introduction and Capital Plan Recommendation.
- Wednesday, Feb. 12 to Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 – Business Unit and Budget Presentations. Each municipal business unit will present their proposed budget and business plan. Below are the scheduled presentation dates for each business unit.
- Wednesday, Feb. 12 (Contingency: Friday, Feb. 14) – Public Safety (including Community Safety; Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency; Halifax Regional Police; and Royal Canadian Mounted Police Halifax Regional Detachment)
- Wednesday, Feb. 19 and Thursday, Feb. 20 (Contingency: Friday, Feb. 21) – Operations (including Halifax Transit; Parks & Recreation; Planning & Development; Property, Fleet & Environment; and Public Works).
- Wednesday, Feb. 26 (Contingency: Friday, Feb. 28) – Corporate Services (including Chief Administrative Office; Finance & Asset Management; Human Resources; Information Technology; and Legal & Legislative Services.
- Wednesday, March 19, 2025 – Budget Adjustment List (BAL) Review. The BAL includes all additional items that business units have presented beyond their proposed budgets, including add-ons (“overs”) and subtractions (“unders”).
- Tuesday, April 8, 2025 – Budget Approval.
Please note these dates are subject to change.
Residents will have the opportunity to speak directly to the Budget Committee during the budget process. During each meeting, time will be set aside for the public to provide insight and comments. Please see the associated agenda page for each meeting.
2024/25 municipal budget
On April 23, 2024, Regional Council approved the 2024/25 municipal budget of $1.04 billion in total municipal expenditures and capital plan of $306.5 million.
The average residential tax bill is increasing by 6.3 per cent. This means the average single-family home tax bill will increase by $214 in 2024/25.
See the 2024/25 Budget and Business Plan and 2024/25 Capital Plan, which were ratified and approved on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.
