Cochrane should publish its own tax history
Four numbers and four links. The Town already has all of it.
To show how little it would take, I drew the page in the Town website’s own colours: what the Town could publish.
The record, 2023 to 2026
Residential municipal rate, read from Schedule “A” of each tax rate by-law. These are the four budgets of the current council term; changes are measured against the 2022 rate, the last one set before this term.
| Year | Rate | Change | By-law |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.01640750 | +4.56% | By-Law 1552-2023 |
| 2024 | 0.01749151 | +6.61% | By-Law 1584-2024 |
| 2025 | 0.01920560 | +9.80% | By-Law 2025-75 |
| 2026 | 0.02013524 | +4.84% | By-Law 2026-36 (in the April 14, 2026 agenda, p. 65) |
Over the four budgets since 2022, the residential municipal rate rose 28.3 percent. The education portion is set by the Province and has not changed since 2020. Water and sewer are billed separately and are not included here.
The longer view
Ontario has not run a province-wide reassessment since 2016. Assessments for the 2026 tax year are still based on fully phased-in January 1, 2016 values, which means that for a home nobody has renovated, the assessed value has not moved since 2020. Over that window the rate change is the bill change, exactly.
Across the six budgets from 2020 to 2026, the residential municipal rate rose 45.2 percent. The series stops at 2020 on purpose. Before then, assessments were still being phased in, so rates fell while bills rose, and the two periods cannot be compared on the same chart.
| Year | Rate | Change | By-law |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 0.01387101 | n/a | By-Law 1419-2020 |
| 2021 | 0.01488392 | +7.30% | By-Law 1462-2021 |
| 2022 | 0.01569216 | +5.43% | By-Law 1505-2022 |
| 2023 | 0.01640750 | +4.56% | By-Law 1552-2023 |
| 2024 | 0.01749151 | +6.61% | By-Law 1584-2024 |
| 2025 | 0.01920560 | +9.80% | By-Law 2025-75 |
| 2026 | 0.02013524 | +4.84% | By-Law 2026-36 (in the April 14, 2026 agenda, p. 65) |
| Total, 2020 to 2026 | +45.2% | ||
What that looked like on your bill
Enter your assessed value. Your assessment notice from MPAC shows it, and it has not changed since 2020 unless you built or renovated.
Starts at $200,000 as an example. Enter your own.
Enter an assessed value first
In 2023, you paid about $3,282 in municipal tax. In 2026, you pay about $4,027. Compared with 2022, the last budget before this term, that is $889 more per year.
| Year | Municipal tax | vs prior year | vs 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $3,282 | +$143 | +$143 |
| 2024 | $3,498 | +$217 | +$360 |
| 2025 | $3,841 | +$343 | +$703 |
| 2026 | $4,027 | +$186 | +$889 |
This is the municipal portion only. Your actual bill also carries the provincial education levy and any local charges. The figure is an estimate for comparison, not a statement of account.
On the 2026 rates, the municipal portion of your bill is about $4,027 and the provincial education levy is about $306, for an estimated total of $4,333.
This is an estimate for comparison, not a statement of account. Water, sewer, and any local charges are billed separately and are not included. The education rate (0.00153 for residential) has not changed since 2020.
Sources
If you spot an error in a rate or a link, write to me at dan4cochrane@gmail.com and I will correct it here.
Updates and corrections
No corrections to date. If one is needed, it will be logged here with the date, rather than quietly edited into the page above.