2026 Oxford County budget passes with more than 5% tax hike

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Oxford County council approved the 2026 business plan and budget last week, passing a total budget of $406.1 million which includes a $278.2 million operating budget and $127.9 million in capital projects.

The amount of money collected through taxation will be $96.7 million, resulting in a $77 increase or 5.3 per-cent for residents in the townships, including East Zorra-Tavistock. Homeowners in Woodstock will see a 5.2 per-cent increase or $69. The dollar figures are based on an average assessment of $281,377.

The document was approved after a marathon meeting that saw seven councillors put forward 23 motions. Some were to add money to the budget but most were to take money out, mainly in the area of new full-time equivalents (FTEs) staff positions being created at the county level. Each motion was decided by a recorded vote.

Several of the motions resulted in some heated debate including one put forward by Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie to hire a full-time grant coordinator position with a budget hit of just over $100,000 for nine months of 2026.

“I think it will be positive and a great resource to help not only our advocacy work that has already brought in more money … but also to help our area municipalities to notify them of grants that are available,” said Petrie.

Coun. Deb Gilvesy, also Tillsonburg mayor, said she isn’t confident there will be enough work for a full-time role.

“When you are writing grants, you are still going to have to get your departments involved. If it’s a grant for housing, we would have to get the director’s team involved to provide information. Finance is going to have their hands on every single grant. I have faith in the current staff to know how to fill out grant applications.”

Woodstock Mayor and Coun. Jerry Acchione said the position falls in the nice-to-have category but isn’t needed given today’s affordability crisis.

“This is a hope and a prayer. We hope this person is going to bring in enough money. That is the definition of a nice to have. We have been tasked to tighten our belts. I don’t understand what we’re doing here all the time looking at these positions and hoping.”

Petrie said he was a little shocked at the “Republican statements” from those opposed to his motion and added other municipalities are benefitting from hiring a similar role.

“There are many grants I know staff have to write and having to do that without a coordinated activity makes it more difficult to be able to put those in and make sure we are successful. …The success rate is way higher and you have the ability to bring in way more money to the municipality so we don’t have to tax residents.”

The motion was ultimately passed by a vote of six to four.

The total FTE increase for 2026 is 19.7. Of that, 17.1 will be funded through the library levy, general levy, user fees and recoveries, and a 50/50 cost-shared provincial grant supporting paramedic services. The remaining 2.6 FTEs are funded through other grants.

The Gazette reached out to EZT Mayor and county Coun. Phil Schaefer once the budget was passed. He explained Oxford County provides many critical services like paramedics, housing, water and wastewater, just to name a few.

“All these critical services are experiencing increases in demand and consequently increases in funding requirements. Council provided a responsible budget to address these increased needs, and many needs from other departments, with a modest tax increase.”

He added 23 amendments to budget were tabled by members of council, and council robustly debated them to produce the approved budget.

“One of the things this budget provided was a plan to improve the ambulance-response times in the northern part of the county, with funding for an additional ambulance and paramedics. The increased demand for all our services is occurring at a time of many challenges in our local economy, and that fact was not lost on council.”

Schaefer, who did not put forward any amendments of his own, said there were many differences of opinion expressed during the budget debate, but each member demonstrated their desire to act in the best interests of all Oxford County residents.

Coun. Deb Tait, who holds the elected role of Woodstock city/county councillor, put forward 11 of the 23 motions, all but one of which was to remove new hires from the budget. Two of her motions passed.

Tait, along with Acchione and Gilvesy voted against the budget. Schaefer was one of seven members of council to vote in favour.

“I voted against the county budget as it is out of control,” said Tait. “At the start of this term of council, there were 627 FTEs. Passing this last budget, county council has now added over 100 new positions just this term. The sunshine list for 2024 was $22 million for the county.”

She added the economy is in dire straits and the increases in taxes the past three years is not sustainable or responsible governance for those who put their trust in their elected officials.

“With these increases year after year, it’s making life extremely difficult for the citizens of Oxford County,” Tait said. “I question what is it we doing for the taxpayer with all these increases? Coun. Bernia Martin (also a Woodstock city/county councillor) mentioned a number of times during the meeting when adding more staff about life/work balance. That is a slap in the face for all those working in the private sector and not only do they have to work whatever hours is required, but not all have a full pension or benefits on top of that.” 

In a press release, the county said the 2026 budget places strong emphasis on health care and housing. Key investments include $400,000 for a homelessness support services fund and an increase of $600,000 annually for needs across the housing continuum, from $3 million to $3.6 million.

Paramedic services deployment and facilities review, ambulance investment and paramedic staffing to maintain response times, and the launch of a traffic management and road safety service to respond to increasing community concerns about speeding and road safety were also in the budget.

As part of Oxford County’s legislated requirement to provide annual funding to Southwestern Public Health, $5 million coming from the tax levy represents an increase of 8.5 per cent over 2025.