Carlow Mayo proposes 3.8 % tax increase

by Michael Riley, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

At their meeting on March 10, Carlow Mayo Township council heard from Treasurer Kayla Weichenthal about the proposed 2026 budget, which would see a proposed 3.8 per cent tax rate increase for this year. After discussing it at the March meeting, it was made clear that they intend to pass the budget at their April 14 council meeting. Weichenthal Mayor Randy Wallace and Councillor Richard Dillabough comment to The Bancroft Times on Carlow Mayo Township's proposed 2026 budget.

The first draft of the 2026 budget for Carlow Mayo was presented on Jan. 13 at their council meeting, and deliberations continued on this budget at the February and March meetings. At the March 10 meeting, council announced their intention to pass the budget in its final form the following month.

In the proposed budget presented by Weichenthal for 2026 at the March 10 meeting, under administration (which includes council salary, EHT, CPP, mileage, conference costs, miscellaneous expenses, memberships and cell phones, administration wages, CPP, EI, EHT, WSIB, Manulife, RRSP contribution, clothing allowance, supplies, equipment repair, fire equipment/fire prevention, summer student program, equipment/software purchase, cell phones, cell phone family plans-non-subsidized, Kyocera copier, postage/courier, telephone, Internet, heating website costs, generator, asset management costs, building repair/maintenance, cleaning, insurance, advertising, sale of surplus land, consultant, audit, legal fees, emergency expenses, emergency dispatch tower, Fire Smart grant, vision care benefit, election costs, hydro, memberships, mileage, seminars/courses, livestock kill, veterans, first aid supplies, bank service charges, debit/credit card fees, special events, vet services, transfers/gas tax, miscellaneous expenses, Christmas, dues and subscriptions, safety compliance, scanning and indexing bylaws, bylaw enforcement wages, bylaw memberships, policing, donations, chief building official mileage, CBO training/conferences, CBO supplies/equipment, CBO telephone, CBO memberships, CBO contract position, 911 supplies, Community Emergency Management grant, MNRF fire suppression agreement and fire response), the grand total proposed for 2026 was $1,080,378.58, which is higher than the 2025 total of $970,483.78.

Under roads (which includes roads wages, CPP, EI, EHT, WSIB, RRSP contributions, Manulife, clothing allowance, vision/medical benefits, office supplies, office equipment, cleaning, safety equipment, sand shed repair, consulting/engineering, aggregate pit expenses, patrol truck fuel, equipment clear fuel, equipment dyed fuel, garage supplies/hardware, shop equipment/tools, equipment/truck stock, garage repairs, 1990 Champ Mayo grader repairs, 1995 Case Mayo loader repairs, 1989 Champ Carlow grader repairs, 1992 Case Carlow loader repairs, 2008 Internation repairs #5, telephone, cell phone, half tonne truck fuel, hydro, chainsaws, water/calcium tank, weed eater/trimmer, insurance, furnace repairs/building maintenance, heating, chainsaw/weed eater fuel, radios, advertising, sweeper paladin dual drive, 2021 John Deere 410L backhoe, loader 2023 John Deere 544G, 1975 steamer repair/maintenance, steamer fuel, 2010 Mack expenses #6, 2020 half tonne, truck #12 2013 intern expenses, truck #14, Silverado one tonne 2024, International 2024/2025, Silverado 2024 fuel, memberships, mileage, conference/staff training, bell line repairs, licences/fines, snowplow damage to property, equipment rental, culverts and installation costs, building inspections, York River bridge expenses, little Mississippi bridge, ditching, beaver control, purchasing gravel, hardtop maintenance, dust control/gravel road maintenance, royalty payments, miscellaneous, sanding and salting expenses, windstorm/flooding expenses, safety/sign devices, sweeping, roadside grass cutting, Boulter Road rehabilitation, brushing, Mallard Lake Road rehabilitation, Mayhew Road rehabilitation, Old Hermon Road expenses, pothole program expenses, Hwy 517, Bessemer, Fort Stewart, OCIF remainder), the proposed grand total for 2026 was $1,726,947.49, which is higher than the total for 2025 of $,571,684.85.

Under waste (which includes waste disposal wages, hazardous waste costs, EI, EHT, CPP, WSIB, Manulife, RRSP contribution, vision care/medical benefit, staff training, supplies, MNRF permit, other costs, Mayo landfill site, clothing allowance, Carlow landfill site, waste compactor expenses, B gravel (fill), grinding, heating Mayo, heating Carlow, monitoring wells/report, recycling collection), the proposed total overall for 2026 was $186,238.37 which was lower than last year's total of $230,691.03.

Under recreation (which includes Foster Lake Park-land use permit, Foster Lake Park expenses, Carlow community centre maintenance, septic plumbing, wages, EI, CPP, WSIB, EHT, Mayo community centre maintenance, community centre Visa charges, HST rebate, insurance, generator/propane at Mayo community centre, generator/propane at Carlow community centre, grounds maintenance, lawnmower, water systems, water testing), the proposed grand total overall was $57,351.06 for 2026, while last year's total was lower at $51,427.44.

And finally, under library (which includes wages, CPP, EI, EHT, funding, WSIB/expenses, insurance, Visa) the 2026 grand total proposed for 2026 was $55,696.23 while the total overall for 2025 was lower at $39,600.

The grand total for all the departments overall proposed for this year is $3,106,611.73, while the grand total for last year's budget came in at $2,863,887.10.

Dillabough told The Bancroft Times that he felt that their budget deliberations and discussions went very smoothly for 2026.

“We have a great staff at Carlow Mayo who are always looking out for the best for the municipality. The council didn't have to cut/lower any of the staff's recommendations for the budget to be affordable for all ratepayers. An increase of 3.8 per cent will help Carlow Mayo in 2026,” he says.

Mayor Randy Wallace reiterated that they were finalizing the budget at their April meeting and wanted to thank their four councillors and staff for doing an awesome job at getting everything with the budget looked after at this time.

“I know what the cost of inflation and we're doing our best to keep any increases down. We are a very small township and again we are doing our best to keep any increases down,” he says.

Weichenthal told The Bancroft Times that the municipal tax rate increase was sitting at 3.9 per cent. The tax rate for Hastings County came in at 5.3 per cent, leaving an overall proposed tax rate for 2026 at 3.8 per cent.

“There will be fine details to adjust for our next meeting as per council's direction at the March 10 meeting, but I'm hoping to bring the budget to council in April for passing.”