Steinbach City Council · Jan 2022 – Sept 2026 · Chamber forum topic: priorities and how to pay for them
Taxes, spending and priorities: how does Steinbach pay its way?
What have council's priorities been, how has it paid for them, and how has it kept taxes reasonable while the city grew? How does its record compare with other Manitoba cities?
Bottom line
- Council's stated priorities for 2022–26 were infrastructure renewal and expansion, recreation and cultural facilities, safety, and relations with other governments. Infrastructure came first in every budget debate.
- How it pays: reserves built over years, a rule of paying off all debt within 5 years, development fees, and partner money (provincial and federal grants, plus $25.5M in private donations for the Event Centre).
- The tax rate is low for Manitoba: $648 in city tax per $100,000 of home value in 2026, against $815 in Brandon, $948 in Selkirk and $1,253 in Thompson.
- Bills still rose. The typical home's city tax rose from about $1,282 (2022) to $1,620 (2026), because of a 5.1% rate increase in 2024 and holding the rate steady in the 2025 reassessment year. Every budget passed unanimously.
- The next test: a wastewater expansion with a city share of at least $65M, and much of the budget work happens in study sessions the public can't watch.
Part 1 · The council record
Priorities and how council pays for them
“we have strategic priorities. And for those for 2022 to 2026, for this term, in no apparent order is city relations, enhanced safety, infrastructure renewal and expansion.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:29:21
“And what I really like about this budget is how it reflects our priorities. 2 of our priorities are infrastructure renewal and expansion and recreation and cultural facility renewals. And this budget is loaded with that.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Mar 21, 2023 · 0:25:54
“So we try and be proactive, or the city tries to be proactive with our infrastructure, uh, which is really our primary responsibility.”
Councillor Susan Penner · Mar 21, 2023 · 0:29:47
“by repaying it in 5 years, it just gives us so much flexibility in terms of thinking what the next project will be after 5 years, which we can start thinking about.”
Councillor Susan Penner, on borrowing for the Southeast Event Centre · Apr 19, 2022 · 0:15:15
“I don't know of any municipality anywhere in the country that is building an Events Centre like what we have that will be debt-free in 5 years.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · Apr 2, 2024 · 0:20:17
“the taxpayers are getting a $69+ million building for $30+ million.”
Councillor Jake Hiebert, on the Event Centre change order · Dec 19, 2023 · 0:39:29
“this is a testament of where, uh, having healthy reserves is a good— is a great thing for the city to have, because, uh, you can leverage when there is construction started.”
Councillor Damian Penner · Mar 21, 2023 · 0:51:16
The five-year debt rule is a long-standing practice, not a by-law. The Southeast Event Centre shows how the funding mix works: about $74M in total, of which the city paid about $30M from reserves, operating funds and short-term borrowing, governments $18.5M, and donors $25.5M. Debt payments take 2.427 mills, about 17% of the 2026 city tax rate (2026 Financial Plan).
Five years of budgets
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City mill rate | 14.1 | 13.7 (reassessment) | 14.4 (+5.1%) | 14.4 (reassessment) | 14.4 |
| Operating budget | – | $34.5M | $38.5M | $42.1M | ~$44.0M |
| Capital program | – | $67.3M | $62.7M | $36.6M | $35.8M |
| Property tax raised (budget) | – | $18.0M | $19.8M | $22.7M | $23.4M |
| Long-term debt, year-end (audited) | $4.0M | $1.9M | $11.0M | $13.9M | ~$17.7M (projected) |
| Reserve funds, year-end (audited) | $38.7M | $44.3M | $38.6M | $47.9M | – |
Pressure in 2024–25
“I think this was our toughest budget. … And as a council, we're not willing to sacrifice the quality of the services that people get. We're not willing to sacrifice in regards to our infrastructure program.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, on the 5.1% increase · Apr 2, 2024 · 0:18:23
“in the past we had a little bit of wiggle room, if that's the right word, is our supplementary property taxes, where those were added taxes on new properties, and that would be found money. And in order to hold taxes in past years, we've also started to budget for those supplementary property taxes.”
Councillor Jac Siemens · Apr 2, 2024 · 0:22:19
“So this is going to be a very significant tax increase.”
Councillor Susan Penner, on holding the rate steady in a reassessment year · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:16:40
“we've worked very hard over the last numerous years to hold the line on no net increases. … But eventually you see the reserves go to a point where we say this is, this is getting uncomfortable.”
Councillor Damian Penner · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:40:57
“We have the reality that we've, we have fewer reserves now than we did a couple of years ago, and that's because we made tough choices when the event Centre cost went up … We are prioritizing infrastructure. Which is the number one priority of any municipality, or at least it should be. No municipality should be cutting infrastructure in order to pay for recreation projects”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:32:46
“for the period from 2010 to 2022, the city balance sheet shows the book value of our city's infrastructure has been declining compared to what it originally cost to build. To me, that would indicate that we've not been keeping up.”
G.S., resident at the 2025 budget hearing · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:23:23
Holding the rate at 14.4 mills in the 2025 reassessment year meant property-tax revenue rose 14.8%, about $2.9M. Staff estimated about 11% of that came from rising assessments. Reserves fell from $44.3M (2023) to $38.6M (2024) as the Event Centre went over budget, then recovered to $47.9M by the end of 2025. The 2026 budget held the rate again and was presented as a zero-tax-increase budget.
“This year, we will be working with a revenue budget of just shy of $44 million, funded with no tax change from last year's mill rate of 14.4 mills”
Councillor Damian Penner · Mar 17, 2026 · 0:38:47
Their reasons for holding the line
1Residents' ability to pay
“Every year coming up with a budget is obviously a balancing act because there are many needs within the city. Of course, we also need to be mindful of, of our residents' ability to pay.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · Mar 21, 2023 · 0:20:33
“Honestly, I don't like tax increases. I don't like them.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:45:00
2Infrastructure before everything else
“But there is not frivolous spending in this budget. We're doing it the same way we always do. We run a tight ship … It's a new normal in terms of the increase.”
Councillor Susan Penner · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:38:49
Many requests from outside groups were sent to unrecorded budget study sessions or simply “received as information”. They included STARS, Southeast Cancer Support Services ($40,000), the Eastman Raiders' floodlights (~$70,000), the physician recruitment task force and the Southeast Events Group. City grants to organizations total about $1.1M a year, led by the library, the Chamber of Commerce and the Arts Council.
3Don't burden future councils
“the reason that we're able to do the event centre at all is because of the fact that this, that this council and past councils for many years have been fiscally responsible and have made sure to, to spend wisely and to keep debt low. … it means that we are not hamstringing future councils with the, uh, with projects.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra · Mar 21, 2023 · 0:21:40
“Will we be able to keep to this policy forever? I suspect there are some projects coming up, thinking along wastewater, which will make it difficult to actually do that.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, opening remarks on the five-year debt rule · Mar 18, 2025 · 0:03:26
Part 2 · How Steinbach compares
Scorecard
How Steinbach's finances compare with other Manitoba cities. Mill rates differ in what they include; the comparison below converts each to city tax per $100,000 of residential value (rate × 45% taxable portion).
Strong ahead of or matching good practice On par typical practice Partial started, with gaps Gap common elsewhere, not done here
| Measure | Steinbach | What others do | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax rate on homes | $648 per $100,000 of value (2026). | Brandon $815; Selkirk $948 (proposed); Thompson $1,253. | Strong |
| Debt | All borrowing repaid within 5 years; $13.9M debt at end of 2025; debt payments about 17% of the tax rate. | Most cities borrow over 15–25 years. | Strong |
| Reserves | $47.9M at end of 2025, rebuilt after dipping to $38.6M in 2024. | Reserves let Steinbach pay cash for much of its capital work. | Strong |
| Growth paying for growth | Development fees rise 5% a year, below the 7.5% staff recommended; council members say growth doesn't pay for itself. | Some growing cities (Niverville, Brandon) charge more for servicing growth. | Partial |
| Funding the next big project | Wastewater city share of at least $65M; federal application outcome not reported; out-year capital ($58.3M in 2028) not itemized publicly. | Peers such as Morden show the cost of falling behind on wastewater. | Partial |
| Budget transparency | Public hearing each year, but decisions are shaped in unrecorded study sessions; grant outcomes often not reported. | Brandon holds public budget deliberation days. | Partial |
Key findings
1Low rate, rising bills
Steinbach's city tax rate is among the lowest of Manitoba cities, and the commercial and residential rates are the same. But the typical home's city bill rose about 26% from 2022 to 2026, from about $1,282 to $1,620 (SteinbachOnline; 2026 Financial Plan). That came from the 2024 rate increase and from keeping the rate flat when assessments jumped in 2025. Both statements are true, and residents should hear both.
2The five-year rule meets its biggest test
Paying off debt in five years has kept interest low and left room for the next project. The coming wastewater expansion is far larger than anything paid for that way: $132.5M in the 2025 funding application, with the city's share at least $65M. Councillor Zwaagstra has said himself that it may be hard to keep the rule. Whether, and how, to bend it is a decision the next council will face in public.
3Much of the real budgeting is off the record
Councillors describe weekends of study sessions where priorities are set. Those meetings aren't recorded, so residents see the result at the hearing but not the trade-offs: which requests were turned down and why. Publishing study-session decisions and a list of grant requests and outcomes would make the record match the effort.
What “doing all it can” would add
- Publish a wastewater funding plan: the city's share, whether it will be borrowed beyond five years, and a fallback if federal money doesn't come.
- Itemize the long-range capital plan publicly; staff keep a 7–10 year look-ahead, but only yearly totals are presented.
- Report study-session decisions, including a yearly list of grant requests with the amount and outcome of each.
- Show typical-household bills alongside the mill rate in each budget, so residents can see the effect of reassessments.
- Base the 2027 development-fee renewal on a cost study of what growth actually costs the city.
- Adopt a written debt policy setting out the five-year rule and when an exception is allowed.
About this page
- Transcripts. Meeting quotes come from automatic transcripts of the official videos. The transcription often misspells the city's name; quotes show it correctly as Steinbach. Other words are left as transcribed. Each quote links to its moment in the video.
- Speakers. Every quote is from a speaker identified with high confidence. Council members and city staff are named; residents are identified by initials.
- Figures. Budget figures are from staff presentations at the annual financial plan hearings; debt and reserves are audited year-end figures; 2026 debt is projected. Planned borrowing in the financial plans was higher than the debt actually issued. Peer tax figures are from each city's 2026 tax by-law or budget presentation; Selkirk's is a proposed rate. Some cities add flat per-home levies that aren't included.
- Coverage. All 103 regular council meetings from January 2022 to September 15, 2026 were searched; the 2022 budget hearing is not among them.
Sources
Council meetings (official YouTube recordings): Apr 19, 2022 · Mar 21, 2023 · Dec 19, 2023 · Apr 2, 2024 · Mar 4, 2025 · Mar 18, 2025 · Mar 17, 2026