Kamloops, BC—The City of Kamloops is inviting residents to attend an in-person Budget Information Session on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, from 6:00–8:00 pm in the Kia Lounge at the Sandman Centre (300 Lorne Street). This session will give residents an opportunity to learn about the City’s provisional 2026 budget, explore proposed supplemental business cases, and ask questions directly to City Council and staff. It will be the only in-person session for the 2026 budget.

Each year, the City develops a balanced budget and five-year financial plan to guide the delivery of essential programs and services—from clean drinking water and waste management to emergency first response. Once the budget is set, property tax rates are calculated based on the approved tax requirement, with taxes due in early July.

To promote more proactive planning and accountable spending, City staff are working to complete the 2026 budget earlier than in past years. As a result, the timeline for public engagement is also shifting earlier. All engagement will take place in November and December 2025, including topics typically tackled during February information sessions.

“We are moving in a direction where we are both approving the budget earlier and consulting on business cases forecasting further into the future,” explains Dustin Rutsatz, the City’s Planning and Procurement Manager. “This will enable the corporation to move forward with a clear budget and give residents more time to engage meaningfully in shaping future initiatives.”

The provisional budget will be presented to the Committee of the Whole on Monday, November 18, 2025, along with three supplemental business cases. None of the supplemental items this year would impact the budget before 2027.

Residents can already share what they want to learn about the budget through the Q&A tool at LetsTalk.Kamloops.ca/Budget2026. More in depth engagement will be available on the platform from November 20 to December 19, 2025. The provisional budget report will be available for review beginning Friday, November 14, 2025, as part of the Committee of the Whole agenda on the City’s Council Access Portal.