Proposed tax hike slashed by nearly 30 per cent
Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Township of Wilmot has made some progress on scaling back a proposed 51 per cent tax hike in its 2025 budget.
Council passed several motions at Monday night’s meeting to lower the proposed increase. Among them was a direction to phase the capital budget increase over the next four years at nine per cent annually until 2028. The current hit on the ratepayers of Wilmot sits at 19.12 percent.
That number includes a proposed 10.12 percent operating budget increase which was lowered from its original 14 percent at the last meeting. Council is seeking further reductions to operating costs and has asked staff to reduce day-to-day departmental budgets by five per cent.
The Jan. 27 meeting was the fourth time council has met to discuss the budget line by line to approve a document residents can live with. Mayor Natasha Salonen said council is thinking about today but also the future.
“Council is working hard to bring the proposed draft budget amount down while ensuring we continue to make strategic investments in our infrastructure and multi-year planning. These decisions are about more than just today - they’re about setting the foundation for long-term financial health and building a stronger future for Wilmot.”
Coun. Steven Martin said council is working together to approve a document residents can stomach.
“We want to reach an acceptable increase that gives more money than we have been giving to things like infrastructure but is not the 51 per cent increase that was first proposed. We have many needs that we have to address, and we can’t continue to push things into the future. We do have to deal with our failing infrastructure but spread it out over time.”
He added the motion to approve a 9 per cent increase on capital expenses over the next four years seems to be a good starting point.
Another councillor said significant progress has been made to finalize the budget at the next meeting on Monday, Feb. 24. Lillianne Dunstall explained one key issue contributing to the township’s challenges has been the tendency to overcut, which is unsustainable for a $33 million organization managing $534 million in assets.
“To address this, I presented two motions supporting a long-term strategy, both of which passed. The first calls for a full cost analysis of our assets to identify underperforming buildings, exploring options for third-party rentals or even liquidating assets.”
She added constituent engagement remains important in making serious decisions.
“The second introduces a phased 9 per cent capital tax increase over four years, starting this year. For a resident paying $5,000 annually in taxes, this equates to an additional $10.80 per month. While any increase is a burden, this is a necessary step towards dealing with our over $19 million in infrastructure backlog.”
Further options for reducing township department budgets will come to council at the next budget meeting scheduled for Feb. 24. Councillors will also review and discuss the revised 2025 budget based on the four-year capital increase approach approved on Monday.
Despite slashing about 30 per cent off the budget, Coun. Harvir Sidhu said the job isn’t done and wants further reductions.
“We have been able to bring the proposed tax hit down to below 20%. There is still more work to do in my opinion. I have heard from the public loud and clear they understand that we are in a tough financial position, however, it is not something that can be fixed overnight. A multi-year approach is needed so our residents are not overwhelmed.”
He added he is looking forward to seeing what each township department brings back to the next meeting in terms of reducing each budget by five per cent.
Coun. Kris Wilkinson is on the same page and despite being pleased with the work council has done to date, they aren’t done cutting.
“I think our focus as a group has been to ensure we are looking at maintaining and improving our existing infrastructure which is super important to the long-term health of our township.”
Wilkinson put forward the motion to have all departments find savings, something he said should give council options to consider and allow for considerable changes to the operating budget.
“As we continue in this process, I look forward to getting a document that we can bring back to tax payers for final approval. My hope is that we can get a new draft budget at the end of February that includes the financial information our citizens have been asking for.”
The Feb. 24 gets underway at 2 p.m. at the Wilmot Administration Complex. Members of the public can attend the meeting in person or view it live on the Township’s YouTube channel.
Additional budget meetings are possible if further deliberations are needed.
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