Woolwich mayor warns of significant property tax hikes over next three years

It was just last year that rate payers in Wilmot Township were warned that they could be facing a 50 per cent property tax increase. In the end, it came in just over 18 per cent, still significant by any standards.

This year, it’s Woolwich Township council that will have to make the tough decisions. A staff report has exposed depleted reserves after years of shuffling money out to help pay for services to ensure minimal property tax increases.

Woolwich Mayor, Sandy Shantz, was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show and said you can only get away with moving around funds for a short time.

“That works for a year or two, but when that happens year over year, at some point to have to to pay the piper.”

The report indicates that if the Township wishes to replenish its reserve funds, property tax increases of 22 per cent, 18 per cent and 18 per cent would be needed per year starting in 2026.

Shantz said she recognizes that those numbers are somewhat shocking, but rate payers need to be realistic.

“I don’t want people to panic but I also know that we’ve had feedback from both sides saying ‘We like the services. We don’t want to cut the services. But also, we don’t want to increase taxes.'”

The report also showed an antiquated budgeting system that has made it difficult to look at the numbers in depth.

Shantz said what the township is working with right now is essentially a sophisticated Excel spreadsheet, but that’s on the way out.

“It’s been the same system essentially for, I understand, 25 years. So, that also makes it hard in a lot of ways to analyze the data and the information that we have. So, we purchased new software.

Shantz admits the software is being installed but isn’t in use quite yet.

For years, municipalities have struggled to find ways to keep services running amid rising costs and the offloading of traditionally provincial responsibilities onto communities, while also trying to keep property tax hikes reasonable.

Shantz said what they really need is for the Queen’s Park and Ottawa to help ease the pressure.

“The tax system is broken. To use property taxes to do the things we are doing is just not working. We need those inputs from other levels of government to help offset that.”

Shantz doesn’t expect the final tax increase in 2026 to be the recommended 22 per cent.