2026 Budget Updates Now Live on Engage Cobourg
Residents invited to speak at December 17 Regular Council Meeting
Cobourg, ON (December 16, 2025) – The Town of Cobourg would like to advise residents of the next steps for the 2026 Capital and Operating Budget process.
On December 15, 2025, during a Special Council Meeting, Council reviewed, deliberated and amended the proposed Mayor’s 2026 Operating and Capital Budget.
At that meeting, the following changes were made to the Mayor’s proposed budget:
| Item | Mayor's Budget | Council's Amendments |
| Affordable Housing Reserve | 0 | $500,000 |
| Heritage Conservation District Plan | $100,000 | $0 |
| Downtown CIP Incentive Program | $50,000 | $0 |
| Recoveries Long-Range Planning | $-150,000 | $0 |
| Police Reserve Utilization | $1,113,000 | $600,000 |
| Overall Tax Levy | 2.70% | 2.74% |
- Affordable Housing Reserve: Approval to utilize $500,000 from the Affordable Housing Reserve.
- Long-Range Planning – Development Budget Updates:
- Special Project – Heritage Conservation District Plan revised from $100,000 to $0.
- Special Project – Downtown CIP Incentive Program revised from $50,000 to $0.
- Both projects were previously funded through recoveries; the corresponding reserves were also reduced to $0, resulting in no impact on the tax levy.
- Police Reserve Utilization: The use of Police reserves was revised from $1,113,000 to $600,000 reducing the budget from $9,451,088 to $8,851,086 or 20.50% to 12.85%.
Regular Council Meeting
At the conclusion of the Special Council Meeting, Council decided to revisit the budget during the December 17, 2025, Regular Council Meeting, which starts at 6 p.m.
The public may view the Council meeting live via the Town of Cobourg livestream available on www.cobourg.ca/escribe. If you have any questions or would like to provide feedback, please email clerk@cobourg.ca.
How to Register as a Speaker
Members of the public who wish to speak to Council may attend the meeting in-person or electronically. Speakers may speak for up to 10 minutes of uninterrupted time and only on the matter pertaining to the item.
To speak in-person, please fill out a Request to Speak form at the meeting and provide it to Clerk’s staff at the meeting. You do not need to submit in advance. If you prefer to attend electronically via Zoom, submit a completed Request to Speak Form in advance to clerk@cobourg.ca
View the Updated Documents
The proposed budget documents can all be found at www.EngageCobourg.ca/2026Budget.
Contact Us
Town of Cobourg
55 King Street West
Cobourg, ON K9A 2M2
Phone: 905-372-4301
Toll Free: 1-888-972-4301
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