Kincardine Council is calling on the provincial government to complete a tax assessment for power-generating properties around Ontario.
The request comes following an assessment for the municipality, which shows that while property taxes have been continually increasing for homes and other businesses, power companies such as Bruce Power have not seen an increase in their property taxes for decades.
Mayor Ken Craig says that it’s not the fault of power generating properties in Ontario, but rather a rule that was put into effect by the province many years ago.
“This is not an issue with Bruce Power. Absolutely not,” said Craig during the final council meeting of 2024. “Bruce Power has been very supportive in acknowledging the challenge that they’re facing and have offered the assistance that they’re able to. It’s not even an issue with [Ontario Power Generation]. That’s not the point. It is the regulation that OPG is following, provided by provincial policy.”
The information is in a report that was presented to council by Municipal Tax Equity Consultants.
The Municipality of Kincardine receives property taxes from Ontario Power Generation as the owner of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Site. Those property taxes are calculated using the provincially established special assessment treatment for electricity generating properties.
When the provincial policy surrounding power companies’ property tax rates went into effect in 2008, Bruce Power contributed approximately 50% of local rate-based revenue. That number dropped to 18% in 2024.
The reason is that the amount Bruce Power pays is based on static, non-market assessments for many components of nuclear properties, and those factors do not adjust based on market dynamics.
The provisions also affect the communities that host Pickering and Darlington nuclear generating facilities.
A motion was put forward by Councillor Rory Cavanagh, who said that he was glad that council could finally talk about the topic, and said that he was always frustrated as a taxpayer to not have power generation facilities pay their share.
“Everyone seems to agree that the fix has to come from the province. We can’t change the Act, we can’t change anything here,” he said.
The motion stated that since Bruce Power is working to provide enough power to satisfy one-third of Ontario’s need, it should be required to pay more in taxes, particularly since it also is one of the region’s top employers, and people move to Kincardine and other municipalities to work at Bruce Power.
The resolution to the motion is to send a letter to the province’s Minister of Energy and Electrification, the Minister of Finance, and to the local MPP, as well as to neighbouring municipalities, and Pickering and Darlington’s host communities.