Merritt residents seeing municipal tax increase of just under 11%

MERRITT, B.C. — Merritt residents will have one last chance to provide their input on the city’s direction for the next five years.

The City of Merritt unveiled the draft bylaw for its 2025-29 financial plan after the 2025 budget was finalized. For 2025, Merritt residents will see an average tax increase of nearly 11 per cent.

The city notes the municipal portion, on average, is only 55 per cent of a Merritt resident’s property tax bill, with the Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD), school taxes and parcel taxes also taking notable chunks. The city says parcel taxes are increasing by five per cent in 2025, while the TNRD recently set its property tax increase at 5.9 per cent.

According to the 2025-2029 capital plan, the city is expected to spend up to $48.7 million in capital projects, over the next five years, including just more than $17 million in 2025. Projects include the East Merritt sewer infrastructure corridor, community services facilities, protective services, transportation services, water infrastructure and water metres. However, the city notes a portion of the $48.7 million in capital projects is dependent on grant funding.

The financial plan draft bylaw can be viewed here.

The finalized budget for Merritt in 2025 has passed its third reading and is expected to be adopted at the next council meeting on Tuesday, April 8 at 6:00 p.m. That meeting will be the last opportunity for residents to provide their input on the 2025-2029 financial plan.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story suggested the City of Merritt’s budget for 2025 was still proposed, not finalized, and that Merritt residents could still provide input on the municipal tax increase. The city’s website mentioned as of publication that the budget was still proposed. Since then, city staff have clarified with CFJC Today that the five-year financial plan was still open for public input during Merritt council’s next meeting on April 8, but that the budget was finalized. The story has since been corrected to portray the proper situation. We apologize for any inconvenience.