Wilmot Township still trying to whittle down proposed property tax hike

Councillors in Wilmot Township are once again looking at their 2025 budget to see where they can make cuts. Heather Senoran has more.

Councillors in Wilmot are once again working to bring down the proposed increase on the township’s portion of the 2025 tax bill.

The hike was initially estimated at 50.87 per cent.

At a six-hour budget meeting on Jan. 17, councillors were able to bring it down to around 47 per cent.

They met again on Monday to see what other cuts could be made.

Historically, the township has had one of the lowest tax rates in the area. Council said years of smaller increases, as well as a failure to set aside money for capital projects, has put the township in tough spot.

Capital portion

The capital portion, which represents the largest part of the budget, was discussed early on at Monday’s meeting.

A motion is going to council where the proposed capital funding increase is phased-in with the tax-supported operating budget over a four-year period, with a nine per cent increase.

The motion also asks that staff develop a 10-year capital plan, for presentation during the 2026 budget process, based on the nine per cent increase in each of the next three years.

“[That] gives us direction,” explained Greg Clark, Wilmot’s chief financial officer. “It doesn’t solve our problems today. It doesn’t solve our problem in four years, but it gives us direction so then we can begin to work and bring back to council over the summer an update that says, ‘OK, we go with nine per cent a year for the next three years. Here’s what we have to push out, here’s what has to be deferred.”

After a lengthy discussion, council voted unanimously to defer the motion. They said the plan was to return to it later in the meeting after other items were discussed.

Update at 8 p.m.: Council has put budget decisions on hold as it addresses other matters.