2026 City Budget Update – Transition Kamloops
We are 14 days into the new year, and you may be wondering where the discussion on the 2026 budget is at after the holidays. Next Tuesday, January 20th, is a Committee of the Whole Meeting where City staff will give Council a 2026 Budget Update presentation. At previous meetings, staff were directed to return to Council with options and recommendations that could whittle down the 2026 municipal budget from the provisional 10.76% tax increase closer to the 7.42% increase that was previously projected.
Additionally, Council has directed staff to host a second public budget information session, which is scheduled for Monday January 26th at McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre (details here). In an effort to finalize the 2026 budget and tax increase earlier than previous years, City staff had originally planned just one public engagement session.
On November 27th, 2025, City staff presented the provisional budget (if you missed it, that one-hour presentation can be viewed online here). A survey with questions relating to the two supplemental business cases was available November 20th – December 19th, 2025.
So what would a 10.76% tax increase pay for anyway, besides essential services provided by the City like water, sewer, and waste collection? Some of the key items up for discussion include previously approved new RCMP positions, transit funding, and Kamloops Fire Rescue staffing changes.
We know that Council is aiming to reduce the tax increase by several percent, however we do not know what kind of options staff have been directed to provide, or what options Council will choose. It will become clear at the Committee of the Whole next Tuesday where Council will be looking to make cuts and adjustments, and it is crucial that if your values are not reflected in the refined budget that you use your voice by contacting Council by phone, email, written correspondence, or in person at the public engagement opportunity on January 26th. A few minutes of your time could make all the difference.
Contact info for Mayor and Council:
Mayor and Council, 7 Victoria Street West, Kamloops, BC V2C 1A2
ph 250-828-3494 fx 250-828-3314
Email: CityCouncil@kamloops.ca
Individual contact info:
Mayor Hamer-Jackson 250-828-3494 mayor@kamloops.ca
Councillor Bass 250-320-2840 dbass@kamloops.ca
Councillor Bepple 250-214-6410 nbepple@kamloops.ca
Councillor Karpuk 250-214-8158 skarpuk@kamloops.ca
Councillor Hall 250-214-6471 khall@kamloops.ca
Councillor Middleton 250-214-6516 mmiddleton@kamloops.ca
Councillor Neustaeter 236-597-6400 kneustaeter@kamloops.ca
Councillor O’Reilly 250-819-3165 moreilly@kamloops.ca
Councillor Sarai 250-819-8527 bsarai@kamloops.ca