Oxford County releases 2026 draft budget

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Members of Oxford County council had their first look at next year’s document, which comes with an operating budget of $227.8 million and a capital budget of $127.9 million.

The largest portion of county expenditures is water and wastewater, at 28 per cent of the operating budget, followed by 19 per cent spent on roads, and the three Woodingford Lodge sites account for 11 per cent of the total budget.

If approved in its current form, residents of the lower-tier municipalities – such as East Zorra-Tavistock – would see a 5.1 per-cent increase, equivalent to a $75 rise in the average tax bill. City of Woodstock residents would see a 5 per-cent increase, or about $66 more.

“(A levy of) $96.3 million is what we are requesting for the budget, which is a $6.5 million increase or a 7.2 per cent increase required to be raised from taxation,” said manager of finance Carolyn King, who presented to council.

“It is important to note there is supplementary growth within the property taxes, resulting in about a five per-cent increase to the average residential property bill.”

The budget began back in June with the launch of a community budget survey. Those results were presented to council in September. County staff started their work on building the document in June, including five meetings with the senior leadership team to debate the budget behind the scenes.

“All of the new business plans, initiatives and new (full-time equivalent) positions were reviewed in full among the team. We have two special budget meetings coming up; the first one is tomorrow when departments will be presenting their budgets in front of you, as well as Nov. 24,” added King.

The operating budget supports key county services that residents rely on every day – from affordable housing and support for vulnerable people to clean drinking water, safe roads, paramedic services, long-term care, community planning and libraries.

The capital plan for municipal infrastructure includes $75.3 million in capital reserve transfers for future funding of roads, bridges, water and wastewater infrastructure, facilities, information technology, and more, as outlined in Oxford County’s asset management plan.

A third part of the budget is $61,266 for court security and prisoner transportation paid to the City of Woodstock, a decrease of 50.4 per cent, resulting in a residential property tax bill decrease of $1 over 2025.

The budget introduces several new initiatives, including the creation of a Homelessness Support Services Fund, a review of paramedic services deployment and facilities, and the development of a new official plan to guide future community growth and development.

Twenty-five and a half new full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions are also proposed, including 5.6 at Woodingford Lodge, five in paramedic services, 2.8 in facilities and 2.5 for the public library system. The Gazette was unable to find out if any of the new FTEs are funded from outside of the tax levy.

Next year’s municipal property taxes would fund just under a quarter of the budget at 23.4 per cent. Other funding sources include provincial and federal funding, reserves (funds earmarked for future expenses), user fees and charges, and other charges and debentures.

Special budget meetings are streamed live at www.oxfordcounty.ca/livestream. The final document, including any changes resulting from the special budget meetings, will come before county council for final review and approval on Dec. 10.