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Decision made to close Catholic church ... Page 12
Council digs deep into 2026 budget Monday was the first day of talks to set next tax increase COLIN SLARK Citizen Staff
Prince George city council took a first deep dive into the 2026 proposed budget over nine hours on Monday, Jan. 26, setting up more intensive deliberations for later in the week to adjust the initial 6.15 per cent tax increase proposed by city staff. Items up for discussion on day one included policing, firefighting, staffing, capital projects and more. Day one featured presentations from each city department as well as non-profits funded by the city, such as the Prince George Public Library and Tourism Prince George. Day two will feature council discussing amendments and changes to the
CITIZEN STAFF PHOTO
City crews carry out emergency water line work at the former CrossRoads Brewing and Distillery site at George Street and Fifth Avenue on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
2026 city budget. If you’re reading the print edition of The Citizen, coverage of day two will appear in the Thursday, Feb. 5 edition and online at pgcitizen.ca.
Process overview Of the $225 million in taxes the city is projected to collect in 2026, only about 71 per cent is for the city itself. Around 17.1 per cent is provincial
school taxes, 7.2 per cent is for the Fraser-Fort George Regional Hospital District, 3.15 per cent is for the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, 1.13 per cent is for the regional district’s 911 services, 0.42 per cent is for BC Assessment and an almost zero per cent share is for the Municipal Finance Authority. Complicating things, city manager Walter Babicz said, is that there are several ongoing crises, such as addictions, homelessness and climate change, that are not necessarily the city’s responsibility but nonetheless have a financial impact. On average, Babicz said, infrastructure in the city is more than 40 years old. The replacement value of all the city’s infrastructure put together is about $5 billion, of which $90 million needs replacement. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE