Gananoque homeowners face 8.68 per cent tax increase

The owner of an average home in Gananoque can expect to pay nearly $280 more in municipal property taxes this year as council prepares to approve the town’s 2026 tax rates and ratios. 

Council is scheduled to consider a bylaw June 3 establishing the tax rates required to fund the municipality’s 2026 budget. 

According to a report from treasurer John Morrison, the municipal portion of property taxes on an average single-family home assessed at $197,000 will increase from $3,196.42 in 2025 to $3,473.85 in 2026. 

That represents an increase of $277.43, or 8.68 per cent. 

When provincial education taxes are included, the total property tax bill for the average residential property will rise to $3,775.26. Education tax rates remain unchanged from previous years, with the province continuing to maintain rates at 2021 levels. 

The report notes the increase is tied to the town’s approved 2026 tax levy rather than any change in tax ratios. 

Municipalities are required under Ontario’s Municipal Act to establish tax ratios annually. Tax ratios determine how the overall tax burden is distributed among residential, commercial, industrial, multi-residential and other property classes. 

Gananoque’s Finance Working Group reviewed the matter and is recommending that tax ratios remain unchanged for 2026. 

The town’s current tax ratios have been in place since 2013. 

Keeping those ratios unchanged means the proportion of taxes paid by each property class will remain the same as it was in 2025. Adjusting the ratios would shift more of the tax burden either onto residential property owners or onto commercial and industrial taxpayers. 

The report explains that lowering commercial or industrial tax ratios would reduce taxes for those property classes but require residential taxpayers to absorb a greater share of the levy. Conversely, increasing the ratios would shift more of the burden onto commercial and industrial properties while reducing taxes for homeowners. 

Staff is recommending council maintain the status quo. 

The approval of tax ratios and tax rates will not change the overall amount of taxes being collected by the municipality. The town’s 2026 tax levy has already been established through the mayor’s deemed budget process and totals approximately $12.54 million. 

Council is expected to consider the bylaw during its June 3 meeting. 

Keith Dempsey is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Brockville Recorder and Times. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.