Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen tables strong mayor budget that would see 9.7% property tax increase

Wilmot Township's 2026 budget was tabled Friday by Mayor Natasha Salonen.

It's the first budget for Salonen since she received strong mayor powers from the province last May.

Under strong mayor powers, mayors are required to present a budget before Feb. 1.

"From that perspective, yes I used the powers, but legislatively I'm required to," Salonen told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition on Wednesday.

"Under that obligation, staff are still the ones who put together the department budgets. [The strong mayor powewrs] did enable me to hire KPMG to bring in the financial expertise."

That's because the township has been without someone with "accounting designation" for several months, Salonen said.

KPMG helped staff draft the budget this year, Salonen said after township council faced tough decisions last year with a proposed 50 per cent tax increase for 2025. That was later brought down to 18 per cent.

Salonen said KPMG staff went through each budget line and looked at what the township is spending on each expense item and used economic indicators to help build this year's budget.

"What we see is a lot of course correcting of accurate numbers in our budget," she said. "In some cases, we were using outdated assumptions that we weren't able to explain or justify."

What taxpayers can expect

Salonen said the township will continue with a nine per cent tax increase on the capital side of the budget — part of a council decision made last year to have a nine per cent increase every year for the next three years to beef up the township's capital reserve.

"That's really to reset both our reserves and to focus on rebuilding our underfunded capital," Salonen said.

The budget is proposing a property tax increase of 9.7 per cent, water rate increase of 4.9 per cent and wastewater rate increase of five per cent.

"Together, the rate increases will total approximately $24 a month ($288 per year) for the average homeowner," the township said on its website.

The township has several critical projects it needs, like a new fire station in New Hamburg, road upgrades and improvements to the Wilmot Recreation Centre.

"The budget includes $12 million to fund 44 capital projects planned for 2026 and a $1.5 million transfer to reserves," the township said.

Salonen said KPMG also drafted a long-term financial plan for the township, which included reserves and capital planning. That long-term plan is expected to come before council in April.

With the budget now tabled, councillors will be able to present amendments or changes they would like to see.

Community members will also be able to share their thoughts to council during a public meeting on Jan. 29.