Interview with the Mayor - May 19th, 2026

Tuesday, 19 May 2026 10:44

Mayor Acchione talked about some of the biggest items on the Woodstock City Council agenda for this Thursday.

WOODSTOCK - There's a lot going on in the City of Woodstock.

An article was recently published by the Woodstock Ingersoll Echo stating that Oxford County Council has approved the purchase of the former Woodstock YMCA building, so it can be converted into a homeless shelter and support centre.

Mayor Jerry Acchione was unable to comment on the matter during his interview on the Heart FM Morning Show today, but he was able to talk about some of the big items on the City Council agenda for this week.

Council is set to sign off on the finalized tax rate for 2026. The city approved a 4.11 percent increase for this year, while the county approved a 5.2 percent increase and the education portion of the property tax bill is $577,555 higher than last year.

Mayor Jerry Acchione broke down those numbers for us.

"This represents a total of approximately $132.87 per assessed average home here in the City of Woodstock."

The tax due dates have been set for August 28th and October 30th of this year and the penalty and interest rates have been set at 1.25 percent per month.

More electric vehicle chargers could be on the horizon for Woodstock. Mayor Acchione says the city has applied for funding through the EV ChargeOn program, so six new charging stations could be installed.

"We are proposing to put more charge stations at Cowan Sportsplex, the Reeves Community Complex, Southside Aquatic Centre, the Brock Street parking lot, the Peel Street parking lot and the Adelaide Street parking lot."

It would be a mix of level 2 and level 3 chargers and Mayor Acchione says they will only be installed if the city receives the funding. He says we should have an answer by the end of the month.

Woodstock City Council applied for funding through the EV ChargeOn program back in 2024, but was not successful.

This Thursday's City Council meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. and it will be livestreamed on the City of Woodstock YouTube page. You can also find the meeting agenda online here.

Mayor Acchione also discussed the following during his interview this morning:

- The Victoria Day long weekend in Woodstock.

- Now that we're a Bird Friendly City, efforts are underway to name an official bird for Woodstock.

- What's planned for the property that's across the road from Home Depot on Juliana Drive.

- A potential apartment building that could have more than 20 storeys.

- The 2026 recipients of the Woodstock Accessibility Advisory Committee's Donna Burleigh Award.

You can listen to the full interview below: