Perth County council approves 2026 budget in principle

Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Perth County council has concluded the bulk of its 2026 budget deliberations and has now approved the full draft budget in principle after county council reviewed its draft operating budget on Jan. 22., resulting in a proposed levy increase, inclusive of growth, of 8.75 per cent over the county’s 2025 levy.

As part of council’s review of the draft operating budget, which originally included roughly $64.4 million in spending this year, councillors were asked to consider four budget requests totalling an additional roughly $205,000.

They included a $50,000 request in support of the development of the Ontario Agri-Food Discovery Centre in North Perth, an additional $100,000 to support a countywide sign and wayfinding project to be undertaken by the county’s economic development and tourism department, $30,000 to support other special projects aimed at supporting economic development in the county, and $25,000 in support of the eradication of the invasive plant species, giant hogweed, in collaboration with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA).

While councillors ultimately included all four budgetary requests in the draft 2026 operating budget, deputy warden Sue Orr and Coun. Rhonda Ehgoetz, representing Perth South and Perth East respectively, weren’t sure the full $25,000 for the eradication of giant hogweed across the county was necessary, and asked staff to arrange a presentation by UTRCA on how exactly the county would support those efforts with this funding.

“I know it’s out there, I know it’s a problem, I still think there has to be some onus on the property owners,” Ehgoetz said, referring to who will be expected to cover the cost of hogweed eradication on private property. “We can’t expect the county and the conservation authority to come in and look after it all. If there’s going to be costs, the farmer or the landowner has to participate in that somehow. That’s my concern, that we’re not going to start taking over looking after hogweed for everybody in the county and it’s just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger as a program.”

Coun. Walter McKenzie, meanwhile, warned his fellow county councillors that West Perth has been contracting the UTRCA to help the municipality deal with its issues surrounding giant hogweed – a noxious weed that can cause skin burns and other injuries to both humans and animals – along portions of the North Thames River south of Mitchell. That work, he said, takes months or even years to eradicate giant hogweed completely and he said it cost the municipality $6,500 last year.

“Giant hogweed is considered a noxious weed both here in Ontario and in B.C. due to it’s toxic sap that causes skin burns and blisters upon some exposure. … It is out there and it is a problem, and I don’t think it’s just a problem in West Perth, but it is a problem in West Perth,” McKenzie said, adding West Perth has little chance in eradicating the weed completely without expanding efforts to the rest of the county.

Given the need for more information on the UTRCA’s giant hogweed program and the county’s role in it if funding is provided, county council voted to leave the door open for adjustments to the giant hogweed budget line should councillors determine the full $25,000 is not needed after the conservation authority’s presentation and before the 2026 budget bylaw is passed.

“Just to put it into context, what was requested for asks would increase our tax rate 0.82 per cent to 8.75 per cent total tax rate, essentially adding $8.20 to the (average assessed) single-detached home (with a 2016 assessed value of $284,000), which still brings us to a total increase of just under $90 (to the upper-tier portion of residents’ property tax bill for the year),” county treasurer Corey Bridges told council, comparing the impact of the new proposed levy increase to the impact of the 7.93 per-cent levy increase included in the original draft of the budget.

Orr and Ehgoetz also requested a review of the Perth County Stewardship program, budgeted at $100,000 as part of the county’s 2026 grant program, to determine if grant funding can be more effectively allocated elsewhere, which staff agreed to bring back at council’s Feb. 5 meeting.

Looking at the 2026 draft operating budget as a whole, Bridges told council much of this year’s levy increase from $25.1 million in 2025 to $27.5 million has to do with increases in operating expenses in both the public works division and paramedic services.

In total, the public works division is expected to see a net increase in operating expenses by roughly $547,000 across its administrative, roads, facilities and fleet departments, primarily resulting from increases in the costs of overhead, winter maintenance, the amortization and operation of the county’s connecting link expansion at the Perth County Courthouse, and transfers to capital reserves for the future replacement of county vehicles and inflation.

In paramedic services, the county’s operating expenses are budgeted with an increase of $473,000 over last year, primarily driven by increases to wages and benefits, including a planned increase in staffing by 1.83 full-time-equivalent positions to allow for the hiring of part-time paramedics to cover parental and maternity leave.

Accounting for COLA and non-COLA salary and wage increases this year, the total salary and benefits cost increase across all divisions in the draft 2026 operating budget is roughly $1.7 million.

The county has also budgeted an additional $652,000 for its portion of the costs for shared services this year – services run by a different municipality or a separate board including Stratford Social Services, Huron Perth Public Health, Spruce Lodge and the Stratford-Perth Museum.

A final draft of the Perth County 2026 budget will be considered at a council meeting in February, at which point any last-minute amendments can be made before council officially adopts the 2026 budget bylaw.