There has been a lot of talk about property taxes in Steinbach as the city discusses proposals for new cultural and recreation facilities. A comparison for 2015 shows Steinbach residents pay the lowest taxes of any similar-sized city in the province. The municipal tax bill on a home assessed at $250,000 is $1,609. Mayor Chris Goertzen says city council continues to work hard to provide great services while keeping taxes down.

"When you look at our mill rate compared to others, it's significantly less. When you look at the next available community with an average $250,000 home, which is Winkler, you'd be paying $200 more. In some of them (other cities) you'd be paying over $1,000 more per year. It's really significant. We're proud of our services that we provide. We also are proud that we're able to do this on a budget that's very reasonable."

Some residents are quite vocal in saying that Steinbach needs a modern arena and other amenities such as cities like Portage la Prairie, Selkirk and Dauphin. It should be noted that annual tax bills in those cities for the same value of home are between $800 and $1,000 higher than in Steinbach. Goertzen says it won't take that kind of tax increase for Steinbach to get such facilities.

"It doesn't take that kind of money to get to that level. But it does take dollars to build great facilities, whether it's a new arena, new arts centre or to upgrade our streets. These all take dollars. We as a community have been very frugal and, at the same time, we are putting aside $1.1 million per year to go to recreation and culture. That is included in the lowest mill rate in Manitoba of any city and so we're pleased that we can do that. But it does put pressure on us."

He adds council will strive to maintain a balance between great services and facilities and low taxes.

"Council is very conscious that we want to balance good services, good facilities with fair taxes and a great value for dollar. We've been able to do that and we're going to have to look at that more closely in the next years because we want to make sure that we have those great facilities that we can be proud of and yet run efficiently."