North Perth Mayor Todd Kasenberg says, like most years, putting together a fair and balanced budget was not the easiest thing to do.
Council passed the budget on December 2 with a 6.61 per cent levy increase. That's equal to approximately $161 per year for a median assessed residential household on the North Perth portion of the tax bill.
Kasenberg says, despite how that increase looks, the budget actually represents council accounting for large inflationary costs for services. Two per cent of the levy increase is attributed to asset management planning that the province requires, alongside another rising cost locally, with 1.7 per cent covering the rise in cost for OPP coverage.
"So you can see pretty quickly that 3.7 per cent of this tax increase is largely for things that are mandated and we're being responsible about, or for things that we just have to have, and we don't get a say in what that price is going to be," Kasenberg explained.
The full 2026 Mayor’s Budget is available at www.northperth.ca/budget.
Looking back on 2025, North Perth Mayor Todd Kasenberg says there was plenty to be proud of in the municipality. He says one big highlight was a big celebration this summer.
"One of the biggest things of the year of course was the Listowel 150 celebrations, which were executed very well by a large group of volunteers who are passionate about this community. I remain grateful to them for their work and for the experiences people had in coming home," Kasenberg shared proudly.
As he reflected on the celebrations, Kasenberg says he's proud of the community spirit that was shown, which included a newly established music festival.
"Part of the celebrations was, of course, the introduction of the Hayloft Music Festival, and this is something that showed us off well and put us on the map, and we'll see more from the Hayloft folks, I think, including bigger and better as time moves forward," he added.
Council also dealt with its Transportation Master Plan, while responding to Perth County's Road Rationalization Review regarding road planning and costs.
"We also released and endorsed a Servicing Master Plan, which looks at water and wastewater infrastructure for the foreseeable future, and puts us onto a path that shows us how we need to save and prepare for the future given the economic models of our growth," Kasenberg noted.
This year also included work on a brewing partnership between other municipal partners to try and bridge the gap left when the PC Connects transit service cancelled the bulk of its operations earlier this year. Kasenberg says work is being done to try and find a new solution.
"So there is work going on amongst a few of the interested partners. Stratford, North Perth, and West Perth have put in an application for funding for an alternative system that we hope will emerge in 2026," he stated.
Going into 2026, Kasenberg says that more work will be going toward addressing housing in the area.
"We released and approved as a council an Attainable and Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan. So that plan actually provides a range of financial incentives to support development of attainable housing in North Perth," he said.
Finally, another big project for next year will include the focus on a Recreation Master Plan, which will include work to renew the Elma Memorial Community Centre in Atwood.
"We're going to see on the council table in January some consulting reports on that subject and that should bring us to a shovel-ready state, so that when grant funding becomes available or is offered by senior levels of government, we can move quickly towards that end," Kasenberg said.
Mayor Kasenberg concluded by saying he wishes for everyone to have a great holiday season, and he and council look forward to getting back to work on 2026 in an election year.
