Kitimat council unanimously adopted three key financial bylaws during a special meeting on May 7, finalizing the municipality’s 2025 tax framework.
The adoption followed first, second and third readings of the bylaws at the regular council meeting on May 5. The bylaws include the Five-Year Financial Plan Bylaw No. 2066, the 2025 Tax Rates Bylaw No. 2067, and the Residential Flat Rate Tax Amendment Bylaw No. 2068.
The Five-Year Financial Plan, required under the Community Charter, outlines municipal revenue and expenditures through to 2029. For 2025, the plan includes a 5.5 per cent increase in property taxes from 2024 and projects a balanced budget of $72.1 million.
Property taxes are expected to generate $41.4 million in 2025—accounting for just over three-quarters of Kitimat’s total operating revenue. Of that amount, major industry is projected to contribute approximately $31.2 million, or 75.47 per cent of all property tax collected. The municipality’s full 2025 budget, including transfers from reserves and borrowing, totals $72.1 million.
Other revenue sources include user fees and charges ($3.3 million), revenue from own sources ($8.15 million), and government grants ($1 million).
Major expenditures outlined in the plan include $24.9 million for capital projects, $11.1 million for protective services, and $9.7 million for general government services. Debt servicing costs are projected at $610,488.
The 2025 Tax Rates Bylaw sets the tax rates required to collect the revenues identified in the financial plan. It also includes taxes collected on behalf of other jurisdictions, including the Kitimat-Stikine Regional District and the Northwest Regional Hospital District. LNG Canada properties remain excluded under a separate tax agreement.
The third bylaw, amending the Residential Flat Rate Tax, raises the flat rate from $723 in 2024 to $763 in 2025. Kitimat has maintained a flat residential tax since the early 1990s. Once eliminated, a residential flat tax cannot be reinstated in future years.
All three bylaws were required to be adopted before May 15 under provincial legislation.
