“Our municipalities don’t have a revenue problem, they have a spending problem,” said John Waylett, founder of the Property Taxpayers Alliance, a group of taxpayers from across Ontario who are advocating for the efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

Waylett claimed that local governments, including the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, and the regional government, are spending too much money on wages, salaries, and benefits.

According to Waylett, some wages at the City of Cambridge are increasing at twice the rate of inflation, and 60 per cent of the city’s budget is made up of wages, salaries, and benefits.

“When that goes on year after year after year, you start to understand where the huge gap starts to form between the homeowners’ wage and income and the wage and income of the members of the municipal government,” said Waylett. “That concerns us a great deal.”

Waylett added that there’s a significant amount of redundancy between the municipal and regional levels of government, specifically when it comes to planning.

Earlier this summer, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his government’s plans to cut operational spending by 7.5 per cent in the 2026/27 fiscal year, growing to a 15 per cent cut in 2028/29. Waylett believes local levels of government need to consider similar cuts.

Additionally, the Property Tax Alliance wants Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs, to step in and hold municipal governments accountable for their spending.

“Rob Flack needs to start tracking these municipalities, their performance, and reporting it back to us so that we can see if we’re getting value for money,” said Waylett.

Waylett noted that the victims of this overspending are low-income households that are being forced out of Waterloo Region because of the rising costs of property taxes.

By Josh Piercey, CityNews Kitchener, Posted Aug 22, 2025 03:01:00 PM Last Updated Aug 22, 2025 04:50:09 PM.