It's budget time in Kingston

City Council will be going over the 2026 draft budget; rate payers face a 3.75 percent increase in levy.

Staff at the City of Kingston along with City Council are going to be doing some number crunching this week.

Budget deliberations are taking place at City Hall with meetings scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Mayor Bryan Paterson will introduce a 2026 draft budget to Council with a rate increase of 3.75 percent.

Speaking with 98.3 FLY FM's Reid and Ben, Paterson says while the initial figure seems high, it is similar if not lower than many large municipalities in Ontario.

Council will be going through the budget and determine what gets added, what gets cut and what stays.

Paterson says trying to maintain service levels in a tough economic environment will be a difficult task but something he and the rest of Council will try to maneuver.

Paterson says emergency services like police, fire, and paramedics will make up a good portion of the budget.

He says there will money put towards a number of projects.

The strong mayor powers gives Paterson the ability to control where the tax dollars will go to.

But he says the rest of Council will get their opportunity to put their stamp on it.

Once the budget deliberations are completed, Council will then vote on a motion to pass it.

Story by Ken Hashizume