Oxford County kicks off 2026 budget process

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Oxford County’s annual budget outreach campaign has kicked off with an online survey. The upper-tier municipality puts the survey information together as it hunkers down and begins the painstaking work of drafting a document for council’s input.

“It is very important that the county receives feedback on the 2026 budget,” said EZT Mayor and County Councillor Phil Schaefer. “As council, we need to know residents’ wishes regarding our services that we provide, and whether they wish to improve, maintain or reduce them.”

Schaefer added not all residents may be totally clear about which level of government provides which services.

“I think, for the most part, residents understand that their tax bill covers more than just the services their local municipality provides. For example, in East Zorra-Tavistock, 47 per cent of the tax bill goes to township services. County services are covered by 41 per cent of the tax bill, and education costs make up the remaining 12 per cent. The township collects the funds from the taxpayers and remits the county and education portions.

Lynn Buchner is Oxford’s corporate services director and explained staff would take a deeper dive into what the public is saying about how they would like to see the county enhance services, reduce them in certain areas or maintain them as normal.

“Staff will look to incorporate public responses into a draft of the business plan budget document in November.”

Woodstock Coun. Bernia Martin urged residents to do the survey and be proactive before it’s too late.

“This is an opportunity for the public to have their say,” Martin said. One thousand and one hundred people responded to the survey last year out of 130,000 people. Throughout the year, people will contact us with concerns and complaints about their tax bill and level of service. This is their opportunity to shape what the 2026 budget looks like.”

A news release from the county outlined which municipalities can provide input on certain county services.

“Residents who live in Blandford-Blenheim, Norwich, South-West Oxford, Tillsonburg and Zorra are asked about local area municipal services, such as fire services, building and drainage services, parks and recreation, by-law enforcement and more.”

The release added residents from all eight of Oxford’s municipalities are asked through the survey about services provided by Oxford County, such as roads and bridges, waste management, long-term care at Woodingford Lodge, paramedic services, human services, water and wastewater, community planning and others.

Oxford CAO Ben Addley said he’s hoping more people will get involved in the budget process, something that will result in better understanding of how the system works.

“We know overall there is room for our residents to better understand which services are provided by which municipal level. This is a key goal of the annual budget survey. It begins with a short overview about municipal taxes, and then each service is explained and broken out by average annual municipal tax impact to each household.”

He added keeping citizens informed and educated about both municipal services and municipal taxes is an ongoing process.

“Last year we tried something new with The Oxford County Podcast, right now on Spotify and YouTube, which was launched during the County’s budget process.”

A total of 1,136 people responded to the survey in 2024, with 62 per cent indicating the value of the services they receive for county tax dollars is fair or good, while 24 per cent indicated they receive poor value. More than 650 comments were received through the survey, spanning housing, children’s services, long-term care, paramedic services and roads.

Oxford County’s special budget meetings for the 2026 budget take place on November 13 and November 24, with councillors deliberating taking place at its regular meeting on December 10. Each participating municipality receives and reviews its own survey results to help plan 2026 budgets.

“I would strongly suggest residents take the 5 to 10 minutes the survey requires to make their feelings known. It is open now on the county website and will be available until August 29,” added Schaefer.

The survey is available at www.speakup.oxfordcounty.ca.