About 5,000 property owners in Stittsville received letters this month with information about an increase to taxes due to revisions of the “Urban Fire Boundary”. A sample of the letter is included below.
The letters took many people – including me – by surprise. Although this is an issue that I’ve discussed previously with Ottawa’s Fire Chief and with the tax department, the timing was unexpected and I want to apologize to residents for the confusion this letter has caused.
Some background:
- Stittsville is served primarily by two fire stations: Station 46 on Iber Road, and Station 81 on Stittsville Main Street.
- For decades, Station 81 has traditionally been a “rural” fire station staffed by volunteers, delivering a very high level of service to Stittsville. Station 46 has been an “urban” station with a mix of volunteer and “career” (or full-time) firefighters.
- The City charges a different fee for fire services, depending on whether you are in the “urban” or “rural” fire area. In general, areas served by volunteer fire stations are in the “rural” area, while areas served by career firefighters are in the “urban” area.
- The majority of homes in Stittsville have been included in the “urban” area for years, but some properties in the south-west part of Stittsville were still in the “rural” zone. That’s because they were closer to Station 81, which has traditionally been a volunteer fire station.
- The dividing line between “urban” and “rural” has not been updated in a number of years. On some streets, one side of the road is designated “rural” while the other is “urban” – even though they receive a similar level of fire service.
- On an ongoing basis, Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) monitors housing and population growth to ensure that they can meet response service standards.
- Based on growth and service demand, last year OFS converted Station 81 from a fully volunteer station to a composite station with both volunteers and career firefighters, allowing it to be staffed 24 hours a day.
- The 2025 City Budget included $2.3-million in annual funding to hire 22 new firefighters to address population growth in Stittsville and surrounding areas.
- With Station 81 switching from “rural” to “urban” designation, the fire coverage maps have been updated – see below.
- The change will mean improved response times and a higher level of service for residents in Stittsville and the surrounding area.
- The boundary change will take effect this year. As a result, impacted properties will be subject to the urban fire rate rather than the rural fire rate.
- On average, a residential property will experience an increase of approximately $40 per $100,000 of assessed value. That increase is tied directly to the higher cost of 24/7 staffing at Station 81.
I am 100% supportive of the enhancements made to improve fire coverage in Stittsville, especially since we are seeing so much new development. And it makes sense that all households should pay the same rate for fire service, if they are receiving the same services. But this still represents an unexpected increase to property taxes and the City should have provided more information to residents in advance of the letters going out.
If you have any questions about the letter, your taxes, or local fire coverage, you can contact firerequests@ottawa.ca to reach a staff member. You can also copy or email me at glen.gower@ottawa.ca.
Maps showing the “before” and “after” urban fire boundary area for Stittsville
The grey area on the map was designated as a “Rural Service Area”.
A sample of the letter sent to affected property owners in early January
