Mayor Aina DeViet announced Tiffany Farrell as the newly appointed Chief Administrative Officer for the Municipality of Middlesex Centre. For the past ten years, Tiffany has served as Director of Corporate Services for Middlesex Centre, overseeing finance, IT, communications, and human resources. Since November 2025, Tiffany has also served as Interim CAO. Congratulations, Tiffany!
2026 Mayor's Budget
At the meeting, Council approved the 2026 Mayor’s Municipal Budget. The 2026 budget totals $76.54 million with a property tax increase of 5.71%, or $159 for the average residential property and $99 for the average farm property in 2026.
Presentations
Mark Peacock, CAO/Secretary-Treasurer of the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority presented to Council on the Province’s proposal to merge Ontario’s 36 local conservation authorities into 7 regionally-based authorities.
Related to this, council directed staff to submit a response on the matter to the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO). In part, the municipality’s ERO response reads, “We submit the following in response to the proposal and strongly urge the province to undertake meaningful engagement with CAs and municipalities to find opportunities to reduce administrative burdens. Proceeding with the proposal without a much more robust implementation and operational strategy will only serve to create delays, cost, and administrative burden for years to come.”
Council Business
During the meeting, Council:
- Approved the 2025 accounts receivable write off in the amount of $36,254 for unpaid bills for fire services provided to non-residents.
- Received the 2026 OPP annual billing statement, which has a total cost of $2,687,360 for 2026 (an 11% increase over 2025). This amount is incorporated into the 2026 budget.
- Endorsed the draft letter and resolution prepared by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) that opposes the legislative changes to Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) governance contained in the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2025 (No. 2) (Bill 68).
- Received the budget to actual report for November 2025.
- Endorsed Middlesex Centre’s 2025 management review of the drinking water system as required under Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks’ (MECP) Drinking Water Quality Management Standard.
Planning Matters
Sitting in public meeting, Council received public comment related to a number of planning applications, as well as updates to the Middlesex Centre Community Improvement Plan (CIP).
Next Council Meeting
The next meeting of Middlesex Centre Council is set for Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at 9:30 a.m., held at the municipal office.
For More Information
For more details on any of these items, see the full meeting agenda or contact the Municipal Clerk. You can view the meeting on YouTube.
Meeting highlights are prepared to give residents timely updates on council decisions. The Council Meeting Minutes are the official record of the meeting.