Wilmot making changes to financial leadership as it tables 2026 budget
Posted Jan 13, 2026 07:14:30 AM.
Last Updated Jan 13, 2026 02:50:59 PM.
Wilmot Township has its finances top of mind, officially tabling its 2026 budget as well as making a few changes when it comes to its financial leadership moving forward.
It’s proposing a 9.7 per cent property tax increase, which would add approximately $24 to the average homeowner’s bill each month, or around $288 throughout the year.
“The 2026 Budget reflects the Township of Wilmot’s commitment to governing with care, discipline, and foresight,” said Mayor Natasha Salonen. “It balances the immediate responsibility to continue to deliver reliable services with the long-term obligation to strengthen the financial and institutional foundations of the Township for current and future citizens.”
A few of the key projects set to be tackled through the latest budget include a new fire station in New Hamburg, upgrades to the Wilmot Recreation Centre, and general road and infrastructure improvements.
That number of 9.7 per cent is in line with what the township said it would be eyeing for its increase, with Salonen stating last year that it would be aiming for roughly 9 per cent increases each year through to 2028.
That decision comes largely after what was a turbulent budget season heading into 2025, with discussions lasting around 3 months after Wilmot Township initially tabled an almost 50 per cent increase.
Ultimately, it settled at an increase of 18.2 per cent, but led to further talks around the township’s spending and financial situation as a whole.
“I think the one clear example is that the problems that we’ve had in the recent past, we are committed to not allowing those to be problems in the future,” said Chief Administrative Officer with the township, Jeff Wilmer.
As a result, Wilmot looked to bring on the help of two management and consulting firms to help bring its fiscal spending and future outlook back in check.
The first, a firm called KPMG, helped the township in drafting its budget for 2026, diving into its past budgets and how it was spending its money over the years.
The second, a firm called StrategyCorp, looked to focus specifically on the township’s services and departmental organization, which recommended a series of changes at the top.
“The team was really feeling the effects of a couple of things, I think one is fairly the frequent turnover at the treasurer position, the director of financial services, but also that that position was responsible for a larger department, with finance being only one portion of it,” Wilmer stated. “Really, we felt that we were feeling the effects of that in a negative way and felt that it would be better for us to have more focused leadership for finance.”
Some of those financial difficulties came in the form of past deadlines, missed bills, and had deeper implications on the funding that it was receiving from the Ontario government.
“Each year, municipalities are responsible for filing a financial information report with the province that reports back on what we’re doing with the provincial funding that we’re receiving,” said Wilmer. “We missed our deadlines on that, and we were more than a year behind. As a result, the province cut off our funding, so we were expecting about $1 million in infrastructure funding that we did not receive.”
He went on to say that the handling of the township’s finances really came to a head, saying, “In terms of us being able to pay our bills on time, the situation was getting pretty dire towards the end of 2025.”
It’s led to the creation of a new Deputy CAO position, filled by Harold O’Krafka, on top of the current CAO, as well as the newly hired Director of Financial Services and Treasurer position, Harjot Grewal.
Wilmot Township is hoping the new changes will help to share the load when it comes to the handling of its finances, allowing for better handling and added focus for its fiscal priorities.
As for the 2026 budget, the process is still ongoing and not yet set in stone, with a public input session on the way before the month comes to a close, set to be discussed on Thursday, Jan. 29.
