Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to Algonquin Highlands' budget, taxes and council decisions. A township in Haliburton County with a mayor and four councillors, three wards, and about $12.6 million a year in revenue. Every figure links back to the public record.
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Questions worth asking
Each one is a question, not an accusation. Every one lists ordinary reasons it could be true, and the documents it comes from.
+67%running the town office, 2019 to 2025
Algonquin Highlands spent $1.2M on running the town office in 2019 and $1.9M in 2025. Prices only went up about 21% in that time. Only 0 of 28 similar towns had faster growth here.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
+80%roads and snow, 2019 to 2025
Algonquin Highlands spent $1.8M on roads and snow in 2019 and $3.2M in 2025. Prices only went up about 21% in that time. Only 2 of 28 similar towns had faster growth here.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
$4,400,000new debenture in 2025, with 2,178,611 of interest still to pay over its life
In 2025 the Township took on its first long-term debt in the two years shown: a $4,400,000 debenture (a loan repaid over many years) from the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation, due December 1, 2045, at 4.32% interest, repaid in monthly instalments of $27,411. At the same time cash rose to 8,597,451 and reserves (savings set aside for later) stood at 8,017,083. Net financial assets, which is what the Township holds in cash and money owed to it minus what it owes, fell from 4,055,877 to 135,247. The budget column had expected (495,225). The note says the debt is "secured by future funding" but not what it paid for. The largest line of capital additions in 2025 was buildings at 4,123,907. We did not find a document that connects the two.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$153,877taken off the 2024 surplus and accumulated surplus when asset errors were corrected
The 2025 statements restate 2024. Note 2 says that "some capital assets were duplicated and some assets were not amortized in accordance with the Township's capital asset policy in the prior year." The 2024 surplus first reported as 958,410 became 804,533, and accumulated surplus went from 27,049,259 to 26,895,382, each down by 153,877. Worked out by us, the correction takes about 16% off the 2024 surplus. The auditor flags the restatement in an "Other Matter" paragraph but the opinion is clean. The note's table labels the 153,877 as "Assets capitalized but previously expensed" and "Net book value of tangible capital assets recorded", which is not the same wording as the description of duplicated and unamortized assets.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$3,468,831estimated landfill closure and care obligation, December 31, 2025
An asset retirement obligation is what a municipality will have to spend one day to close and look after old landfill sites. The Township owes an estimated 3,468,831 for its five waste sites, up from 2,102,641 at the start of 2024 (an adjustment of 1,289,017 in 2024 and 87,277 in 2025). The note says an engineering study received in 2025 raised the cost estimate for every site and the closing dates for two of them. Reserves for environmental services were 876,511 at the end of 2025. The Township's surplus schedule lists "Amounts to be recovered" of (7,868,831), which is the 3,468,831 plus the 4,400,000 of debt (worked out by us). The note also shows "Accretion expense" as a dash in both years, and gives a discount rate of 2.94% in the text and 3 in the table.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
7.12%increase in the Township's share of the 2026 tax rate, per $100,000 of residential assessment
The Township says Council adopted 2026 spending of $18,582,749.00 and revenue of $10,867,780.00, with $7,714,959.00 raised from property taxes. The Township's own share of the tax rate rises by $27.84 a year, or 7.12%, per $100,000 of residential assessment. The combined rate, with the County of Haliburton and school board amounts, rises by $44.98 a year, or 5.54%. The Township explains part of it: police costs rise 11% on the OPP's annual bill, and the budget carries road, building, dock, software and accessibility projects, with reserves and grants used where possible. Worked out by us, $10,867,780.00 plus $7,714,959.00 is $18,582,739.00, which is $10 less than the printed spending total.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
3 of 3years budgeted as a deficit in the statements, and finished as a surplus (2023 to 2025)
A surplus is what is left when a year's revenue is more than its spending. In the audited statements, the budget column showed a planned deficit for 2023, 2024 and 2025, and each year ended with a surplus. For 2025 the budget column says (564,350) and the actual is 60,073. For 2024 it says (171,972) and the actual first reported was 958,410 (later restated to 804,533). For 2023 it says (425,145) and the actual was 1,811,336. Worked out by us, the actual result beat the budget column by $2,236,481 in 2023, $1,130,382 in 2024 (as first reported) and $624,423 in 2025. The statements say the budget column is not the budget Council adopted: it was "prepared on a fund basis, and has been amended to conform with the accounting and reporting standards". In 2025 the budget column also shows exactly the same amounts as the actuals for amortization (2,140,893) and for buying capital assets (6,127,645).
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$1.5 millionairport hangar roof repair in the 2026 budget, to be paid from reserves and gas tax funds
The 2026 budget includes airport hangar roof repairs that the Township describes as a "1.5-million-dollar project". It says the project will be "funded by Airport Reserves and Gas Tax Funds with the intention to replenish the reserve funds over time." The audited statements do not show a separate airport reserve. Reserves for transportation as a whole were 2,846,921 at the end of 2025. The federal gas tax balance held for future projects was 536,910, and 84,757 of new gas tax money was received in 2025.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
19.5%rise in transportation services expense, 2024 to 2025 (worked out by us)
Transportation services, which covers roads and winter control, cost 4,451,833 in 2025 against 3,726,006 in 2024 (restated). Worked out by us, that is $725,827 or 19.5% more. About $259,768 of the rise is amortization (1,276,404 against 1,016,636), which is the yearly wearing out of roads and equipment, not cash. Operating costs rose by about $262,180 (1,953,853 against 1,691,673) and salaries, wages and benefits by about $203,879 (1,221,576 against 1,017,697). The 2025 statement's budget column shows 4,417,275, so the actual cost was close to the budget column, but the statements say that column was rebuilt from the adopted budget.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
0budget books and council pay statements found on the Township's own website
The Township's budget page posts a written summary of the 2026 budget, not the budget book, and says a copy is available by contacting the Treasurer. We did not find the 2025 or earlier budgets, or the yearly statement of council pay and expenses, on the Township's website. Agendas, minutes and budget meeting papers are on a CivicWeb portal. That portal's robots.txt, a file that tells automated readers where they may go, says "Disallow: /" to all of them, so we could not read any council papers. People can still open the portal in a browser. This is a note about what we could and could not check, not a claim that anything is hidden.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
A property tax bill in Algonquin Highlands pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what Algonquin Highlands council controls.
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