Wilmot Township nearing final 2026 budget deliberations

Last year, Wilmot Township made headlines when a more than 50 per cent property the tax increase was proposed as part of 2025 budget.

In the end, council was able the whittle it down to 18.22 per cent.

Years of financial mismanagement led to depleted reserves, particularly for capital projects, including critical infrastructure maintenance and renewal. To help ensure a stable and sustainable financial future, the township hired KPMG Consulting to help guide the process for 2026.

Wilmot Mayor, Natasha Salonen was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show and said KPMG was quite thorough, scrutinizing every line item.

“We didn’t take any assumptions from past budgets. KPMG walked our staff through a process to ensure we’re A: Using best practices and B: Everything that is budgeted and counted for is based on best practice and what we are actually anticipating.”

When it comes to future spending, Salonen said KPMG is addressing that as well.

“Part of the work they are doing, and they’re starting on next week, is a long-term financial plan. That’s really to help give us a plan as a community, how we’re now going to fund that chronic underfunding and not saving for a rainy day, but also ensure we don’t have huge infrastructure issues.”

Salonen also spoke about one of the unique challenges faced by the municipality: a lack of non-residential ratepayers. She said Wilmot is primarily a residential community, so much of the property tax burden falls on individuals and families.

She said attracting the business sector is one way the township can lessen that burden.

“When we’re looking at growth, our employment lands that have been zoned for over 20 years, we’re hoping to see movement there. That will be really beneficial to the tax base, and it won’t be super strenuous on our services because it’s not new residents but instead businesses.”

Township council is next set to meet Friday, Jan. 9. At that time, the final draft budget will be presented. Councillors will then be able to table amendments.

The amendments will be debated and a public delegations will be recieved at council on Jan 29, for final deliberations.

A final vote on the 2026 spending plan could come as early as that meeting at the end of the month.