Residents in the Town of Comox will be seeing a small increase in their property taxes after the town passed its budget on Wednesday.
Council adopted the five-year financial plan and tax rate bylaws at a special council meeting on May 14.
The 2025 budget reflects an increase to the general municipal levy of $145.58 on the town鈥檚 share of the tax bill for a home assessed at approximately $830,000. Council also approved the Infrastructure Renewal Fund on Wednesday, which includes an increase to address the gap between available funding and the amount needed to maintain its infrastructure. Investing in this fund with an increase of $51.79 is important as it helps ensure our assets can continue to safely and reliably deliver services.
That means for a home worth about $830,000, property taxes will go up about $200 per year, taking the town's share and the infrastructure renewal fund into account. That number will be less for homes worth less than $830,000, and more for more valuable homes. This reflects the draft budget discussed by council earlier this year.
A release from the town says that the budget supports the strategic plan, which is in place until 2026. Part of that plan is investing in parks, trails, the waterfront, and cost-sharing with the City of Courtenay on the extreme weather shelter.
"It also reflects the town鈥檚 commitment to emergency services, including the support of an additional police officer for a growing community," the release says.
"The RCMP is gradually shifting the costs of the administration staff from their budget to the municipal budget. This typically occurs when a staff member departs the RCMP and a new person is hired," the draft budget says.
The detachment has proposed hiring a new uniformed member in 2026, 2027 and 2028, and the Town said that it would fund 1.3 officers until 2027. In 2025, the RCMP portion of the budget will increase from $2,267,043 to $2,434,196, or an estimated increase of 1.8 per cent.
鈥淚 want to genuinely thank our Comox staff team and Council for the ongoing discussion and diligence in looking for opportunities to reduce costs to our taxpayers during uncertain economic conditions,鈥� said the Mayor Nicole Minions. 鈥淲e have and will continue to advocate for increased funding from senior levels of government to offset the costs to our taxpayers on improvements to infrastructure, facilities and other services.鈥�
While property taxes are paid to the Town of Comox, only 45 per cent of every residential tax dollar stays with the Town to provide municipal programs and services. The remainder is allocated to service partners (Comox Valley Regional District, schools, hospital, library, Municipal Finance Authority and BC Assessment). The annual updates to the 5-year Financial Plan are required by provincial law.
For more information on the budget, including the final budget package when it is available, visit .
