Fort Smith’s town council unanimously approved the municipality’s annual operations and maintenance budget of $14.4 million on Tuesday.
An NWT municipality’s approved budget is normally required by December 31 each year, however the town requested a 30-day extension of that deadline.
The approved budget includes a 3.5-percent property tax increase and a 2.4-percent increase to the revenue required for the environmental operating fund, which covers the likes of garbage collection and landfill operation and is largely paid for by the town’s solid waste levy.
Councillor Karl Cox called the town’s 2026 budget a “good compromise on building capacity and reasonable tax increases.”
Commenting online, Mayor Dana Fergusson said it “reflects careful planning, open discussion, and a clear focus on what matters most to our community.”
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“Every dollar in this budget was considered with intention and accountability,” she wrote on Facebook.
“This budget supports advancing our municipal emergency services, enhancing our public works efforts, and using responsible financial planning to protect the community into the future.”
At a council meeting in December, senior administrator Jim Hood said the town’s draft budget anticipated a seven-percent tax increase.
At the time, councillor Mike Couvrette said he felt a seven-percent increase was not “very palatable” to residents. He said he would prefer an increase closer to half that amount.
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“We are a municipal corporation and the cost of doing business has gone up. Inflation is affecting everybody,” he noted.
“Costs of services, heating, electricity, everybody is after our hard-earned dollars here.”
Meanwhile, council this month approved $416,828 for a new garbage truck and $189,439 for a modified 40-foot seacan that will house a firefighter training facility.
