Wilmot’s new finance director ready to tackle township’s financial challenges

Tracy Prince has been hired as the Township of Wilmot’s new director of financial services and treasurer. Photo courtesy of Tracy Prince

By Galen Simmons

After years of turnover in Wilmot Township’s financial services department and significant work to put the municipality on firmer financial footing, new director of financial services and treasurer Tracy Prince says she is ready to help chart the path forward.

Prince, a chartered professional accountant with roughly 20 years of combined municipal and public-sector experience, recently joined Wilmot after more than four years with the Town of Amherstburg, most recently as chief financial officer. Her extensive career has also included nearly a decade as director of finance for the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority and previous financial roles with the City of London, Woodstock General Hospital and other public- and private-sector organizations.

For Prince, the move to Wilmot represents both a professional opportunity and something of a return home.

“I just thought it’d be an exciting opportunity for another small municipality to get to know,” Prince said. “I lived in Woodstock for a few years, and I also grew up in the London area.”

Prince arrives at an important time for the township. Wilmot taxpayers saw increases of 10.8 per cent in 2024 and 18.22 per cent in 2025 before council approved a 9.1-per-cent increase for 2026. Years of historically low tax increases and minimal reserve contributions had left Wilmot with depleted reserves and underfunded capital needs, prompting council to begin increasing capital funding and reserve contributions.

The township also turned to KPMG to assist with its 2026 budget and develop a long-term financial plan amid staff shortages and turnover in the finance department.

Prince said that work will give her a valuable starting point.

“I’m going to use theirs as a roadmap,” she said of KPMG’s work. “I actually just read it today and I thought it was a very supportive document. … I think it will create a really good roadmap and really be supportive of the communication for the township.”

Prince has worked with KPMG, MNP and Deloitte during her career and said independent consultant reports can also provide valuable information to support both staff recommendations and council decisions.

Communicating those decisions to residents will be another priority.

With municipal finance often significantly different from household or private-sector budgeting, Prince said one of her challenges will be explaining complex financial decisions in terms residents can understand.

“How can I translate what’s needed in the town to what people would understand in the community?” she said. “I think that’s really important.”

That focus comes after transparency became a significant issue during Wilmot’s 2026 budget deliberations. Several councillors criticized the amount of financial detail initially released publicly, ultimately prompting council to direct staff to publish line-by-line actuals, variances and budget information.

Prince is also stepping into a department that has lacked permanent leadership through periods of staff turnover, something she said bears similarities to a situation she encountered previously.

“I think that I find it as an opportunity … to really kind of right the ship,” Prince said. “I think it’s going to be a great opportunity, a great challenge, and I really just want to make a difference. That’s why I’ve chosen public sector.”

Part of that work will involve ensuring Wilmot is financially prepared for pressures outside the township’s control, including changes to provincial funding, development charges, conservation authorities and infrastructure funding.

Prince said municipal finance requires balancing council’s direction with the need to maintain the township’s long-term financial health.

“It’s supporting council, it’s supporting the organization to make sure it’s financially sustainable and healthy, and having those hard conversations with council,” she said.

While there is plenty to tackle, Prince said her first priority is learning – about the township, its residents, their concerns and the council she will advise.

“I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter here,” she said. “I think it’ll be good.”