Property taxes

Every candidate will have a position on the tax increase. The useful questions are narrower than the slogan: an increase in what, measured against which base, paying for which of the three things the bill actually funds.

Start with the record, not the promise

The City has stated a tax increase every year since 2013, and this site publishes each one in the City's own words rather than as a bare percentage, because the phrasing is where the meaning lives. Some years quote the increase on the City portion alone; some quote a blended figure including the education and service-partner shares; some quote the effect on a "typical" home whose assessed value is itself a moving assumption. Two rows showing the same number can describe different things.

Stated as one figure Infrastructure component Operations component Service-partner component

Per cent. Through 2018 and in 2021–2022 the City stated one figure, drawn whole; every segmented bar is a sum of stated components, derived. Segment meanings shift with the City's own wording: 2019's operations figure is "City services" alone, 2020's includes the service partners, 2023's infrastructure piece is the levy-funded half of a 2% rise, and the 2023–2026 partner components are requests the City never restated as approved (2024's release notes "several amendments"). Every year from 2013 to 2026 has at least one stated component, so no bar is missing. In 2017 and 2018 the City stated both a total and its City-services component, so those two bars draw split, with the infrastructure remainder its own arithmetic; infrastructure sits at the bottom of every stack so the eras compare like with like. The names above the bars are the mayor in office when each year's budget was set, from the results archive, with the average of the charted yearly increases over that mayor's budgets — an average of partly derived figures, derived itself. The full record, each year in the City's own phrasing: property tax increases.

Three bills arrive as one

A Barrie property tax bill funds the City, the service partners (police, library, county and health services among them) and the Province's education tax. Council sets the first, sets only the total for police (see policing), and does not set the education rate at all. A promise to "freeze taxes" therefore reaches only part of the bill, and a candidate should be able to say which part.

The 2026 property tax total, split the way the budget book splits it.

What pushes the number up

Renewal. The 2026 budget carries a $6.4 million Infrastructure Investment Funding contribution, which the budget states is a 2% tax levy increase on its own, against a renewal shortfall the City puts at over $65.6 million a year. See the infrastructure gap.
Service partners. The police request alone rose $6.2 million for 2026 on the documents' own figures.
Growth. Barrie is adding people and, from January 2026, land: the annexation brought roughly 1,673 hectares into the city, and servicing it is the next council's decision.
Assessment is frozen. Assessed values are still based on the January 1, 2016 valuation date — the Province has repeatedly postponed the scheduled updates — so the values the rate is applied to no longer track the market. A rate increase and a bill increase are not the same thing.

Sources: Infrastructure Investment Funding (2026 Business Plan & Operating Budget), City of Barrie. Original document. One page. States the $6.4M IIF contribution represents a 2% tax levy increase. Retrieved August 9, 2026. Service Partners Budget and Financial Overview 2026, City of Barrie. Original document. Covers the Barrie Police Service, County of Simcoe, library and other partner budgets as presented to the City. Retrieved August 9, 2026. Staff Report CCS-010-2026 — 2026 Tax Rates, City of Barrie — Legislative and Court Services, dated April 22, 2026. Original document. States verbatim that Council approved the City portion of the 2026 budget on 2025-11-12 under Motion 25-G-236 (as amended) and the Service Partner portion on 2025-12-10 under Motions 25-G-259 and 25-G-261 (as amended), and that both established the total property tax levy requirement at $338,922,579. Adopted by Council 2026-04-29 as motion 2026-A-071. Both approving motions were "as amended", so nothing about the per-line split survives from the requested documents without its own source. Retrieved August 11, 2026.

The 2026 caveat, narrowed. Council approved the City portion on November 12, 2025 and the service-partner portion on December 10, 2025, together setting the total property tax to be raised — the "levy requirement" — at $338,922,579. So the total is approved and the rates are approved. What is still unpublished is the approved breakdown: the budget documents describe a proposed split, both approving motions carried "as amended", and the minutes that would show the amendments fall inside a gap in the City's public meeting record. Per-line 2026 amounts on this site are therefore the requested ones.

Also relevant: water and wastewater rates, which are billed separately and rise on their own schedule, and what the next council will be paid.

Common questions

Has Barrie raised property taxes every year?

The City has stated a tax increase every year since 2013. This site publishes each one in the City's own words rather than as a bare percentage, because the phrasing is where the meaning lives — the full record is at property tax increases.

What does a Barrie property tax bill pay for?

Three things arriving as one bill: the City, the service partners (police, library, county and health services among them), and the Province's education tax. Council sets the first, sets only the total for police, and does not set the education rate at all — the split is at the budget page.

Why do candidates quote different tax increase numbers?

Because the same year's increase can be stated on different bases: some years quote the City portion alone, some a blended figure including the education and service-partner shares, some the effect on a "typical" home. Two numbers that disagree can both be correct descriptions of different things.