Council Supports 2026 “Status Quo” Mayor-Proposed Budget

Council Supports 2026 “Status Quo” Mayor-Proposed Budget Focused on Protecting Services and Affordability while Investing in the Future

“A status-quo budget does not mean standing still. By focusing on investment attraction, partnerships, and long-term planning instead of short-term cuts, we are protecting the services our residents rely on while strengthening tourism, creating local jobs, and building a more affordable future for the residents of Wasaga Beach.” - Mayor Brian Smith

Wasaga Beach – The Town of Wasaga Beach is moving forward with a status quo 2026 Budget and modest tax increase of 2.99%. The mayor-proposed budget addresses affordability, rising costs, and inflation while investing in infrastructure and protecting municipal programs and services. It has received unanimous support from all members of Council. 

Backed by historic investments from other levels of government — including over $110 million to build high schools in the east and west ends of the community, and more than $38 million to rebuild Beach Drive, reinvent Nancy Island, and advance a Destination Wasaga Master Plan that will advance year-round tourism and grow the town’s commercial tax base — Council continues to prioritize long-term financial sustainability over short-term cuts.

How Wasaga Beach Compares Across the Region

In 2025, residents of Wasaga Beach paid less property taxes on average compared to Barrie, Midland, Penetanguishene, and Collingwood.

In 2026, Wasaga Beach’s 2.99% blended tax rate is anticipated to continue to position the Town on the lower end of proposed municipal tax increases across Simcoe County.

Highlights of the 2026 Budget

• Protecting Core Services
  The budget maintains staffing and service levels, ensuring the Town continues to deliver reliable programs, emergency response, road maintenance, parks and recreation, and customer service. 

• Keeping Wasaga Beach on a Sustainable Path Forward
  Council is prioritizing long-term financial planning, responsible growth management, and infrastructure renewal — without burdening residents with major new spending pressures. This includes increased reserve contributions and asset management planning, which will ensure long-term financial stability. 

• Leveraging Historic Provincial and Federal Investment
  Since 2023, the Town has improved relations and secured unprecedented funding that is directly helping pay for major infrastructure upgrades, including the reconstruction of Beach Drive and two high schools — both essential to the town’s growth and quality of life. 

• Advancing Destination Wasaga
  With $2 million from the Province of Ontario over 2025 and 2026, the Town is developing the Destination Wasaga Master Plan — this represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the community’s beachfront, downtown, public spaces, and year-round quality of life. 

• Growing Year-Round Tourism & the Local Economy
  The budget supports planning and economic development initiatives aimed at attracting investment, strengthening the visitor economy, and expanding nature-based and four-season tourism, which will support local businesses, create local jobs, and increase the town’s commercial tax base. This is part of Council’s plan to shift the burden of paying for municipal programs, services and infrastructure off local families and property owners. 

• Building a Stronger Commercial Tax Base to Tackle Affordability
  The budget prioritizes operational spending that supports Council’s long-term strategy to protect programs and services while attracting investment to grow the town’s commercial tax base, keep property taxes low, and make life more affordable. 

"Council understands the impact of inflation and the high cost of living on our residents. We struggle with these same pressures as a municipality,” said Mayor Brian Smith.  "That's why we continue to be laser-focused on providing value for money, identifying clear priorities, leveraging investment from other levels of government, and working quickly to move our community forward." 

"As a result, over the past 12 months Council has successfully lobbied for over $38 million to build Destination Wasaga, develop a community-led Destination Wasaga Master Plan, and breathe new life into Nancy Island Historic Site. We have confirmed ownership of Allenwood Beach, introduced free resident parking passes, and successfully lobbied for control over Beach Area 1 and 2 and New Wasaga (and the parking revenue that comes with that). We have made significant progress towards redeveloping our main commercial area at the beachfront, including getting shovels in the ground on a mixed commercial-residential development by Stonebridge Building Group; confirmed a premium Marriott hotel on Beach Drive. We have also received more than $400,000 in provincial grants to support tourism and local businesses this past summer, as construction along Beach Drive got underway.”

Highlights of Council’s actions and achievements from 2023-2026:

1. Re-opening Beach Drive.
2. Re-opening the Town-operated medical centre and after-hours clinic; partnering to secure over $800,000 in provincial funding to expand services offered at the clinic; and attracting two new doctors to town in less than two years.
3. Launching successful beachfront activations, including new food truck zones at Beach Area 1 and two of the most successful events in the history of the Town, including a record-breaking 2024 Memories of Summer, with over 12,000 visitors/residents in attendance.
4. Completing and opening the new Wasaga Stars Arena and Wasaga Beach Public Library, a project that started during the 2014-2018 term of Council.
5. Delivering Wasaga Beach’s first “Breaking the Ice” winter music festival, featuring rock legends Burton Cummings and Blue Rodeo, which attracted almost 6000 guests to town including 3000 visitors from other communities.
6. Launching a bold new destination management plan and tourism website.
7. Programming a successful summer of events that helped mark the Town’s 50th anniversary with outstanding live music, entertainment, and the biggest increase in tourism we have seen in over a decade.
8. Welcoming Canadian country star Tim Hicks and six-time JUNO Award winner Sam Roberts Band to the Wasaga Stars Arena. These exciting concerts are just one of the many ways we're bringing the community together and supporting the Town’s vision of becoming a thriving year-round destination. 
9. Recruiting the Town’s first-ever Greater Metro Hockey League (GMHL) Junior A hockey team, the Wasaga River Dragons.
10. Lobbying for and welcoming a $57.7 million investment by the Ontario government to build Wasaga Beach’s first high school and community hub, in partnership with the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board. The K-12 campus and community hub includes a community theatre, child care centre, and post-secondary program opportunities. 
11. Lobbying for and welcoming a $59.3 million investment by the Ontario government to build a second high school proposed by the Simcoe County District School Board, which will create an additional 1,145 secondary student spaces in Wasaga Beach.  
12. Celebrating the reopening of William Arnill Park and the Town’s BMX bike track, after investing over $400,000 to build new parks or improve existing facilities in 2024.
13. Building new sidewalks and almost completing construction along River Road West.
14. Improving Town wayfinding signage.
15. Creating a Holiday Market.
16. Creating an Affordable Housing Task Force.
17. Launching business round tables to engage local businesses.
18. Completing a review of Town surplus lands and exploring higher and better uses of these lands, including listing some parcels for sale to help pay for some of the Town’s capital investments.
19. Conducting an organizational review and taking steps to build a more strategic and effective organization; launching the Town’s first-ever whistle-blower policy; completing a compensation review; and introducing progressive human resources policies and programs to attract and retain top talent.
20. Welcoming a $45+ million investment by Sunray Group to build a premium Marriott Hotel near Beach Drive, along with shops, cafes, restaurants, and residences—with construction set to begin in 2026.
21. Welcoming a $90 million investment by Stonebridge Building Group to develop a portion of Town-owned property near the beachfront. This includes mixed-use residential and commercial spaces on a parcel of land near Beach Drive at Beach Area 1.
22. Completing a customer service review, to identify efficiencies and improve customer service across all Town departments and facilities.
23. Confirming municipal ownership of Allenwood Beach. As a result, Council was able to introduce free resident parking and have our hardworking Town staff clean and maintain that section of our shoreline throughout the summer.
24. Speaking with local, regional and national news outlets in response to the province’s proposal to return 3% of provincial parkland to the Town, on the condition that the beach remain public. This partnership will help Wasaga Beach thrive as a complete community where tourism, conservation, and local community go hand-in-hand: wasagabeach.com/TRANSFER.
25. Lobbying for and welcoming over $1 million in financial support from the province to offset rising provincial OPP costs. This ensured that our Council could introduce a lower 3.96% tax increase in 2025, instead of the 5.6% increase that would have been necessary had the province not covered these unexpected cost increases.
26. Completing and adopting a new Municipal Accommodation Tax, which could contribute over $1 million to help pay for destination festivals and events, and promote local businesses and visitor experiences—so tourism begins to pay for tourism and destination marketing, not residents!
27. Introducing new measures aimed at improving public engagement, transparency and accountability in municipal government, including regularly occurring Town Hall meetings, an improved public engagement portal, “CAO Office Hours” where any resident can drop-in to ask questions and chat about Town projects with CAO Andrew McNeill, and “Ask Mayor Smith Anything”.
28. Completing and adopting a new Official Plan (OP), including a first-ever West Wasaga Secondary Plan.  
29. Welcoming an almost $400,000 grant from the Ontario government to support destination marketing, promote local businesses and events, build capacity, and improve the visitor experience at Beach Area 1 this summer, as construction along Beach Drive got underway.
30. Kicking off a successful Visioning Week, the first major milestone in developing the community-led Destination Wasaga Master Plan. Held from November 17 to 20, the week-long series of public meetings, workshops, open houses, focus groups, interactive mapping activities, and one-on-one conversations drew participation from more than 500 residents as well as business owners, local organizations, provincial partners, and stakeholders from across Ontario. 

Quick facts

• In 2025, residents of Wasaga Beach paid less property taxes on average compared to Barrie, Midland, Penetanguishene, and Collingwood.
• In 2026, Wasaga Beach’s 2.99% blended tax rate is anticipated to continue to position the Town on the lower end of proposed municipal tax increases across Simcoe County. 

Additional resources

Watch a clip from the latest edition of Ask Mayor Smith Anything about Budget 2026.
Watch the Budget 2026 public presentation.
Read the FAQ about Destination Wasaga, including: “Won’t this planning cause our taxes to go up?”
Subscribe to receive all of the latest Council news and updates, delivered straight to your inbox.

Background

The Town of Wasaga Beach aims to be a place where people come to create memories that will last a lifetime. Budget 2026 supports this vision and Council’s priorities: to ensure that the Town is well-run, and to create opportunities to diversify the economy, create jobs and build a complete community.  This includes ensuring the highest level of transparency and accountability for the taxpayers of Wasaga Beach, striving for excellence in customer service and creating a corporate culture that will attract and retain top talent. It’s part of the Town’s plan to become a leader in sustainability, creativity, innovation and fun – a place with thriving businesses; safe, inclusive and complete neighbourhoods where we celebrate our rich history, diversity of cultures and natural beauty including the Nottawasaga River, Georgian Bay and the longest freshwater beach in the world. 

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Media contact:
Sandra Watts
Director of Strategic Communications & Intergovernmental Affairs
sandra.watts@wasagabeach.com