Oxford County passes 2025 budget with 6.6% increase

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, With files from Jeff helsdon

County taxpayers won’t see the sticker shock on next year’s tax bill in contrast to this year. Oxford County passed a tax increase of 16.7 per cent in 2024 but this year’s document is a bit easier on the pocketbook despite being greater than the rate of inflation.

The tax levy increase means was approved at 6.6 per cent which means an $80 increase on the 2025 property tax bills for the average residential homeowner. Warden Marcus Ryan said the 2024 budget sets them up for better times this year.

“There are some municipalities who worked hard to get down to a single-digit budget increase every year going forward. I’m hopeful what we have done is made a change to manage the circumstances we are in now. We will be working our way back now to more normal increases in the range of inflation.”

Ryan, who has been in municipal government for 10 years, said the budget takes care of the services residents expect.

“When you turn the tap on, the water comes out and it’s safe to drink, which is in fact a good news story and municipalities generally do that quite well. When people need a paramedic and they come, that’s a good news story like when the road is plowed.”

He added the challenge in Oxford recently comes from the rate of growth the area is experiencing and having to fund it only with property taxes. Mental health, addictions and homelessness have also become budget issues, but he explained when normal services are being delivered no one questions reasonable tax increases.

“When government is not news, to some extent that means we are doing our job. We are getting the services delivered at a reasonable price.”

The county’s $125.2-million capital plan for 2025 includes investments in water and wastewater infrastructure, roads and bridges and other infrastructure projects. It also includes a $3 million annual contribution to affordable housing reserves, with 50 new affordable housing units expected to be built in 2025 on Dundas Street in Woodstock. Coun. David Mayberry put forward a motion to add another $1 million into that fund and allow staff to spend it how they see fit. That spurned some heated debate before the motion was eventually defeated, something Ryan said isn’t a bad thing.

“The one thing I would suggest residents take away from that debate is everyone was unanimous in the need to have better housing and their mental health and addictions addressed. Where council sometimes disagrees on this issue is by degree.”

Council increased annual spending to $3 million two years ago and Ryan admitted part of the debate was how much politicians ask taxpayers to foot the bill for housing when the supports for mental health and addictions aren’t there.

“You heard all those things in that debate. $40 million on the taxpayers of Oxford is too much, I think that is clear. Is $3 million enough? Somewhere in between there, so where exactly? That was the nature of the debate we had.”

He added the question that needs to be asked is how many more dollars should people be taxed for when the necessary supports, which are a provincial responsibility, aren’t there.

“Four walls and a roof for somebody struggling with mental illness and ends up self-medicating, that’s one slice of the pie they need in order to move on to a better life.”

Among the new projects in the budget are money to support an automated speed enforcement program, new leadership development programs to help with succession planning for staffing and technology upgrades in the council chamber to improve sound and quality of live and recorded council meetings.

New Deputy Warden elected

Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie went unchallenged in his bid to back up Marcus Ryan, replacing outgoing deputy Mark Peterson, Mayor of Blandford-Blenheim.

The Tillsonburg viewpoint

Tillsonburg Mayor Deb Gilvesy was hoping for a lower increase.

“Ultimately for me, for a comfort level, I would have loved to see it closer to CPI at four to five per cent, but we’re facing challenges. We are putting a lot of money towards housing,” she said.

Some of that new less-than-market-rate rental housing will be in Tillsonburg. There will be 29 units at Harvest, as well as other possibilities in Tillsonburg. The county is also looking at a transitional plan for shelters. Gilvesy pointed out Ontario is one of the only provinces where housing falls on lower tier governments.

Gilvesy’s wish list for the budget included removing a solar power development on county land in Woodstock. That isn’t impacting the budget this year, but will in future years. She said financing is spread over 30 years and the solar panels only have a 20-year lifespan.

She was glad to see council supported a motion that she put forward with Ryan to reintroduce development charges on industrial property. The county was waiving development charges on industrial lands as an incentive to attract industry. Putting these charges back in knocked nearly four per cent off the county budget increase.

“If you are foregoing that money, it needed to be made up by the taxpayers because there’s a void in the budget. Our tax base can’t afford making up millions of dollars in lost DC charges,” she said.

Gilvesy questioned the 21.9 FTE employees being added in the budget, asking if it was vetted for only what was needed. She also had concerns about the cost of the county’s green initiatives, and made a suggestion that when council goes through a strategic planning process, they need to attach costing to the plan.