Not the full picture. Built from public records, which leave things out.Read by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date. Check the sources, and tell us if you spot a mistake. What this site can't tell you Read by hand. We read Bancroft's own documents for this site in October 2026; the Sources page lists which ones. The comparisons with other places still come from the Province's yearly reports.
Questions · 7 so far
Things worth asking about
We read Bancroft's financial reports and meeting minutes, and compared its numbers with 30 similar Ontario towns. These are the things that stood out.
What these are, and what they are not. A question here means a number or practice is unusual, or harder to see than it should be. It does not mean anyone did anything wrong. Most unusual numbers turn out to have ordinary explanations, and every question lists some. The only way to know is to ask.
Worth asking
Worth asking
There may well be a good reason. It is still worth asking what it is.
$4.8 milliona year gap, from $6.0 million needed to about $1.2 million set aside, in the town’s 2025 asset plan
An asset management plan lists what a town owns (roads, bridges, water and sewer pipes, buildings, trucks) and what it will cost to replace each piece as it wears out. Bancroft’s 2025 plan values what it owns at $134.8 million. It says the town needs to put $6.0 million a year toward replacing these things and now puts in about $1.2 million, a gap of $4.8 million a year. To close it over 15 years, the plan says tax-funded assets need an average tax change of 3.3% a year. The 2026 budget raises the town’s tax by 1.00% after growth, and sets aside $682,209 in reserves (savings for future projects), up from $312,352 in 2025. The town also has $15,666,841 of grant-funded projects under way. The town has published all of these numbers. What residents have not been shown is a plan that connects them.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$4,308,000landfill closing and monitoring costs recorded as owing at the end of 2025, against a landfill savings account of $751,472.60
A landfill has to be covered, watched and kept safe for decades after it closes. Since 2023, accounting rules make a town record that future cost as money it owes. Bancroft owns and runs two landfill sites and shares the cost of a third. Its audited 2025 statements record $4,308,000 for this: $730,600 for the open site, $166,400 for a site to be closed and $3,411,000 for the shared one. The town’s own May 2026 staff report says it is “not currently putting funds into reserve” for closing cells or for the final closing. The landfill savings account held $751,472.60 at the end of 2025. The reserve contributions in the 2026 budget list $76,000 for waste equipment replacement and no line for closing costs.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
18 monthsfrom the end of 2023 to the auditor’s signature on June 25, 2025
Every year an outside accountant, called the auditor, checks a town’s books and signs a report saying whether the statements are fair. Bancroft has posted audited statements for 2019 to 2025, each with a clean opinion (“present fairly”). But the dates the auditor signed show a long slide and a recovery. The 2019 and 2020 reports were signed in July 2020 and June 2021. The 2021 report was signed January 26, 2023, the 2022 report February 16, 2024 and the 2023 report June 25, 2025, 18 months after the year ended. The 2024 report followed on September 29, 2025, and the 2025 report on May 26, 2026, five months after the year ended. So the town has caught up. The documents we read do not say why the earlier ones were late.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$68,000Mayor’s discretionary reserve contribution in the 2026 budget, 0.93% of the tax levy
Under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, which the Mayor’s written decisions cite, Bancroft’s Mayor now proposes the budget. Council can amend it, the Mayor can veto an amendment, and five members (two-thirds) can override the veto. The Mayor’s 2026 budget, presented January 27, 2026, includes a “Mayor’s Discretionary” addition of $68,000 to reserves, or 0.93% of the tax levy. The budget says what it is for: $66,000 toward library capital debt payments and $2,000 for community grants. The Mayor used the veto once, on March 3, 2026, on an amendment about arena fees, and gave written reasons. Both are posted. What is not shown is whether the $66,000 will come back every year.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
The audited statements say the town “shares the costs of one landfill site”, and record $3,411,000 of future closing costs for it, most of the $4.3 million total. Council’s closed-meeting notices named the “Faraday Waste Management Board” at five meetings in 2025: January 14, February 11, March 11, June 3 and September 9. The open record does not say what the board is, what the town pays it, or what was discussed. The September 9 notice listed a legal matter about the Occupational Health and Safety Act under the same heading, and the June 3 notice a property standards issue. Separately, the 2025 statements show $124,447 of “external transfers” under garbage and recycling. They do not say who was paid, so we do not know whether the two are linked.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$4.8 milliona year gap, from $6.0 million needed to about $1.2 million set aside, in the town’s 2025 asset plan
An asset management plan lists what a town owns (roads, bridges, water and sewer pipes, buildings, trucks) and what it will cost to replace each piece as it wears out. Bancroft’s 2025 plan values what it owns at $134.8 million. It says the town needs to put $6.0 million a year toward replacing these things and now puts in about $1.2 million, a gap of $4.8 million a year. To close it over 15 years, the plan says tax-funded assets need an average tax change of 3.3% a year. The 2026 budget raises the town’s tax by 1.00% after growth, and sets aside $682,209 in reserves (savings for future projects), up from $312,352 in 2025. The town also has $15,666,841 of grant-funded projects under way. The town has published all of these numbers. What residents have not been shown is a plan that connects them.
Why it matters
Roads and pipes wear out whether or not money is saved for them. Putting the cost off does not remove it; it hands it to later taxpayers, often as one large bill. A council can reasonably choose small tax increases, but residents are better served when the trade-off is laid out.
It could be because…
Grants can pay for much of the work. The 2026 budget lists $12,175,048 of grants toward five projects (arena, water tower, library, dam and Highway 62 South).
The plan is a snapshot built on estimated replacement costs, not a bill that falls due this year.
Part of the gap is in water and sewer, which residents pay through water rates, not taxes.
The town has said it wants its tax increase to stay below most other municipalities to encourage growth.
Questions you could ask
What is the plan, in years and dollars, for closing the gap, and does the 15-year path in the 2025 plan still stand after the 2026 budget?
Which assets are most urgent (for example the Station Street Bridge), and how much grant money does the town realistically expect for them?
Why was the 1% for public works, parks and fire buildings added on April 8, 2025 and taken out on April 23, 2025?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Bancroft?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
The plan values the assets at $134.8 million. “The Town’s average annual capital requirement totals $6.0 million.” The town is “committing approximately $1.2 million towards capital projects or reserves per year”, a “funding gap of $4.8 million”. It proposes average yearly changes of 3.3% in taxes for tax-funded assets, 3.1% in water rates and 1.5% in sanitary sewer rates over 15 years. Section 3.2.2 puts the target reinvestment rate at 4.5% against 0.9% now.
2026 tax increase: 2.15% gross, less 2.08% growth, leaves 0.07%; the Mayor’s discretionary reserve contribution adds 0.93%, for a net increase of 1.00%. Contributions to reserves total $682,209 in 2026 against $312,352 in 2025.
Unbudgeted needs listed by the town for the coming years include the Station Street Bridge ($3 million to $5 million) and “Asset Management Plan Recommendations” at $4 million a year. Five grant-funded projects total $15,666,841, of which grants pay $12,175,048 and the rest, $3,491,793, is the town’s or its partners’ share.
In the 2025 budget, council added 1% to the tax levy ($66,871) for public works, parks and fire buildings on April 8, 2025, and removed it again on April 23, 2025.
For context, the town’s finances are not weak: reserves of $7,386,092 at the end of 2025 (up from $4,719,720), net debt of $1,484,781 (down from $3,562,717), long-term debt of $2,522,136, and an unused $2,200,000 line of credit.
$4,308,000landfill closing and monitoring costs recorded as owing at the end of 2025, against a landfill savings account of $751,472.60
A landfill has to be covered, watched and kept safe for decades after it closes. Since 2023, accounting rules make a town record that future cost as money it owes. Bancroft owns and runs two landfill sites and shares the cost of a third. Its audited 2025 statements record $4,308,000 for this: $730,600 for the open site, $166,400 for a site to be closed and $3,411,000 for the shared one. The town’s own May 2026 staff report says it is “not currently putting funds into reserve” for closing cells or for the final closing. The landfill savings account held $751,472.60 at the end of 2025. The reserve contributions in the 2026 budget list $76,000 for waste equipment replacement and no line for closing costs.
Why it matters
Closing costs arrive whether or not they are saved for. If nothing is set aside, the bill falls on whoever pays taxes when the landfill fills up. The town’s own report also says the first closing work could come in one to three years.
It could be because…
The $4,308,000 is a long-run estimate, discounted to today’s money, for work spread from 2026 to 2079.
Much of it ($3,411,000) belongs to a shared site, and the other owners may share the cost.
The staff report proposes using the landfill savings account for one-time costs, and more users or fees could fund the rest.
Interim and final cover costs can be paid when they come due, from grants, taxes or borrowing.
Questions you could ask
Does the town plan to start a landfill closing reserve, and in what year and amount?
How was the $4,308,000 estimated, when was it last reviewed, and does it include the interim cover work due in one to three years?
Who owns the shared site, and what share of the $3,411,000 is Bancroft’s to pay?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Bancroft?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
“The Town owns and operates two landfill sites. The Town also shares the costs of one landfill site.” The two operating sites are projected to close between 2026 and 2079. Landfill closure and post-closure obligation at December 31, 2025: open site $730,600, to be closed $166,400, shared $3,411,000, total $4,308,000. Accretion expense (the yearly growth of the obligation) was $166,400.
The staff report says: “the Town is not currently putting funds into reserve for ongoing cell closure costs or for future landfill closure expenses.” It adds that $166,400 is the obligation for interim closing of the open cells “in the next 1-3 years”, and that the landfill reserve had an available balance of $751,472.60 at December 31, 2025, of which $50,000 was assigned to packer tires in the 2026 budget.
Reserve contributions for waste in 2026: equipment replacement $76,000, retired unfunded-capital debt $12,365, and recycling roll-off truck debt $19,691. No contribution for landfill closing is listed.
Bancroft spent about $150 per home on council in 2025. The typical similar town spent $76. Only 3 of 30 similar towns spent more.
Why it matters
Spending more than neighbours is not wrong by itself. It might buy better service. But it is the first place to look for costs that could be lower, such as contracts that were not competitively bid.
It could be because…
Geography: more roads, more snow, a bigger area or a landfill of its own.
Accounting: some towns record the same cost in a different category.
A one-time cost in this year.
Questions you could ask
What was the $44,496 of contracted services on the council line in 2025, up from $15,416 in 2024 (for example integrity commissioner, investigator or legal costs)?
What is the extra $72,306 in the 2026 council budget, and what is the $60,000 of revenue shown against it?
Council has seven members. How does the total cost of council pay and expenses compare with towns of similar size, and when was council pay last reviewed?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Bancroft?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
In 2025 the Province’s return shows $270,870 on the council line: $187,069 pay and benefits, $17,192 materials (which probably include conferences and travel), $44,496 contracted services and $22,113 transfers. The town’s budget for the same department was $271,819. Contracted services on this line were $15,416 in 2024.
Council’s 2025 statement of pay and expenses: seven members, wages $173,825.43, travel $2,529.18, conferences and training $12,523.83, total $188,878.44. The mayor’s wages were $40,406.11; each councillor’s were between $20,485.68 and $26,674.04. In 2022 the total wages were $138,713.12 and in 2024 $156,977.88.
The town lists “Wage increases as negotiated with CUPE and applicable to all staff and council” among its 2025 cost pressures. The Council department’s budget was $237,910 in 2024 and $271,819 in 2025. In 2026 it is $344,125 with $60,000 of revenue, for $284,125 of tax.
18 monthsfrom the end of 2023 to the auditor’s signature on June 25, 2025
Every year an outside accountant, called the auditor, checks a town’s books and signs a report saying whether the statements are fair. Bancroft has posted audited statements for 2019 to 2025, each with a clean opinion (“present fairly”). But the dates the auditor signed show a long slide and a recovery. The 2019 and 2020 reports were signed in July 2020 and June 2021. The 2021 report was signed January 26, 2023, the 2022 report February 16, 2024 and the 2023 report June 25, 2025, 18 months after the year ended. The 2024 report followed on September 29, 2025, and the 2025 report on May 26, 2026, five months after the year ended. So the town has caught up. The documents we read do not say why the earlier ones were late.
Why it matters
The audit is the one check on the town’s money that does not come from the town. Until it is done, residents and the Province rely on budgets and on staff’s own numbers. A town that is a year or more behind has less warning of problems, and the yearly report to the Province is built on those statements.
It could be because…
COVID-19 slowed the 2019 and 2020 audits across Ontario.
A new accounting rule (asset retirement obligations, for landfill closing costs and similar) took effect for 2023 and added work to that audit.
Changes in the finance team. The minutes show an acting treasurer appointed by By-law 67-2024 on September 9, 2024.
The audit firm’s own workload.
Questions you could ask
What caused the delays in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 audits, and what changed so that 2025 was done in five months?
Did the auditor’s letters to council for those years raise any concerns about the books or the controls, and will council make them public?
Can council set a target date each year, such as June 30, and report to the public if it is missed?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Bancroft?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Auditor’s report signed February 16, 2024 for the year ended December 31, 2022. Council received the audit presentation on February 14, 2024.
2022 Consolidated Financial Statements · auditor’s reports, page 5 of the PDF; council minutes of February 14, 2024, resolution 21-2024 (document 118422)
Auditor’s report signed June 25, 2025 for the year ended December 31, 2023. Council received the audit presentation on June 24, 2025; in the Mayor’s words that day, “The 2023 Financial Statements are being presented today and the 2024 Financial Statements will be presented in August.”
2023 Consolidated Financial Statements · auditor’s report, page 5 of the PDF; special council minutes of June 24, 2025, Mayor’s comments and resolution 191-2025 (document 140979)
Auditor’s report signed September 29, 2025 for 2024 (council received the presentation September 23, 2025), and May 26, 2026 for 2025 (council received it May 12, 2026). The 2025 audit plan said the year-end audit work was expected February 16 to 20, 2026.
2024 and 2025 Consolidated Financial Statements · 2025 statements, auditor’s report, page 5 of the PDF; 2024 statements (document 143531), same page; audit plan on page 9 of the January 27, 2026 agenda (document 145563)
$68,000Mayor’s discretionary reserve contribution in the 2026 budget, 0.93% of the tax levy
Under Part VI.1 of the Municipal Act, which the Mayor’s written decisions cite, Bancroft’s Mayor now proposes the budget. Council can amend it, the Mayor can veto an amendment, and five members (two-thirds) can override the veto. The Mayor’s 2026 budget, presented January 27, 2026, includes a “Mayor’s Discretionary” addition of $68,000 to reserves, or 0.93% of the tax levy. The budget says what it is for: $66,000 toward library capital debt payments and $2,000 for community grants. The Mayor used the veto once, on March 3, 2026, on an amendment about arena fees, and gave written reasons. Both are posted. What is not shown is whether the $66,000 will come back every year.
Why it matters
Without the $68,000 the 2026 tax increase would have been 0.07% after growth. The reasons are public, which is good, and council had a period to amend the budget. Residents can still ask whether this is now a permanent part of the budget.
It could be because…
A normal use of the powers the law gives the Mayor, and fully described in the budget document.
The library payments are a real cost of the new library project, which the town’s grant table puts at $1,874,900, with $1,374,864 from federal and provincial grants and $500,036 as the town’s or its partners’ share.
Council had the budget amendment period (January 23 to February 23, 2026) to change it, and only one amendment passed.
Questions you could ask
Will the $66,000 for library debt payments be part of the regular budget in 2027 and later, and for how many years?
Why was this amount added as a “Mayor’s discretionary” item rather than as a normal line in the library or debt budget?
What is the status of the arena fee review the Mayor promised in the March 3 decision?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Bancroft?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Contributions to reserves 2025 versus 2026: Mayor’s Discretion, library capital debt payments $0 in 2025 and $66,000 in 2026, and community grants $2,000. The Mayor’s discretionary contribution to reserve totals $68,000. It is 0.93% of the levy, which turns a 0.07% increase after growth into a 1.00% net increase.
The budget timeline: the Mayor’s budget is presented “without discussion or amendments”; council may propose amendments from January 23 to February 23; the Mayor may veto amendments; council can override a veto with two-thirds (5) of its members.
Mayoral Decision MDE-2026-05, March 3, 2026: the Mayor vetoed Amendment 02-2026 (Resolution 70-2026), which raised public and youth ice rental fees by $28.32 an hour and cut the 2026/2027 non-resident arena user fee to $250. His reasons were that fees are set by by-law and resolution, not the budget, and that the amendment did not change the budget. He said he would form a committee on arena fees.
The audited statements say the town “shares the costs of one landfill site”, and record $3,411,000 of future closing costs for it, most of the $4.3 million total. Council’s closed-meeting notices named the “Faraday Waste Management Board” at five meetings in 2025: January 14, February 11, March 11, June 3 and September 9. The open record does not say what the board is, what the town pays it, or what was discussed. The September 9 notice listed a legal matter about the Occupational Health and Safety Act under the same heading, and the June 3 notice a property standards issue. Separately, the 2025 statements show $124,447 of “external transfers” under garbage and recycling. They do not say who was paid, so we do not know whether the two are linked.
Why it matters
If the town carries a share of a landfill it does not run, residents should be able to see what the share costs each year and what promises have been made. Closed meetings are allowed for legal and staff matters, but repeated private discussion of a service that costs taxpayers money makes the public record thin.
It could be because…
The board may be a long-standing sharing arrangement with neighbours, with its own legal and staffing issues that must be discussed privately.
Closed sessions are allowed for legal advice, staff matters and negotiations, and the town does report that direction was given.
The external transfers may be something else, such as the cost of waste sent to another site.
Questions you could ask
What is the Faraday Waste Management Board, who sits on it, and how much did Bancroft pay it or for the shared site in each year since 2022?
Does the board publish its own financial statements and closing-cost estimate?
Can the town report in public, in general terms, what was decided in these closed discussions once any legal matter is settled?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Bancroft?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Other environmental services (garbage, dump and recycling) shows $124,447 of external transfers in 2025. The Province’s return shows the same line at $133,615 in 2021, $76,356 in 2022, $96,081 in 2023 and $106,567 in 2024.
Closed-meeting subject lines naming the Faraday Waste Management Board: January 14, 2025; February 11, 2025; March 11, 2025 (with “Request of Expression of Interest - Residual Waste”); June 3, 2025 (with “Property Standards Issue”); and September 9, 2025 (with “Legal Matter Pertaining to Occupational Health and Safety Act”). The minutes for September 9 say “No direction was provided to staff”.
Council minutes, September 9, 2025 · closed session item and business arising; the other dates are documents 135155, 135453, 137401 and 140943 in the same folder
Bancroft spent about $480 per home on garbage, dump and recycling in 2025. The typical similar town spent $202. Only 1 of 30 similar towns spent more.
Why it matters
Spending more than neighbours is not wrong by itself. It might buy better service. But it is the first place to look for costs that could be lower, such as contracts that were not competitively bid.
It could be because…
Geography: more roads, more snow, a bigger area or a landfill of its own.
Accounting: some towns record the same cost in a different category.
A one-time cost in this year.
Questions you could ask
After the bag tags, scales and waste audit, what does the town expect the yearly deficit to be in 2028, and what is the target?
What does the neighbouring township pay to use the landfill, per tonne or per home, and when does that agreement renew?
What is the $124,447 of external transfers in 2025 for, and to whom was it paid?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Bancroft?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Garbage, dump and recycling per home: Bancroft $480; typical similar town $202; ranked 2nd highest of 31.
The town’s own report calls this a growing operating deficit, caused mainly by lost recycling revenue after the Province moved the cost of blue box recycling to producers. Net cost to taxpayers: $514,410 in 2024, $697,117 in 2025 and $700,868 in the 2026 estimate (the budget presentation shows $750,868). It says the “annual operating deficit for landfill activities is in excess of $500,000 per year”.
Provincial recycling payments to the town: $210,272.91 in 2024, $132,353.17 in 2025 and none in 2026. The 2026 budget lists “Elimination of Blue Box revenue” of $129,956 among its pressures. The staff report says the 2026 budget also removed one collection vehicle and a recycling operator position.
In the audited statements, other environmental services (garbage, dump and recycling) cost $978,393 in 2025. That includes $166,400 of “rents and financial”, the same amount as the year’s accretion expense, the yearly growth of the landfill closing cost. That is a bookkeeping charge, not cash paid.
To bring in more money the town started a garbage bag tag program on September 1, 2025 (By-law 29-2025): residential tags $1.00 in 2025, rising by $0.50 a year to $2.50 in 2028; business tags $2.00 rising to $3.50. Staff note that many customers stockpiled tags before the 2026 price rise.
The 2024 landfill report counted 5,670 vehicle visits and about 6,538 cubic metres of household waste. Of that, about 500 cubic metres came from the Township of Wollaston’s waste site, which the landfill’s provincial approval of October 13, 2023 allows. Council’s own landfill motion on August 11, 2026 (Resolution 252-2026) said that, per dwelling, Bancroft taxpayers pay “a substantial amount more” for the landfill than the neighbouring municipality pays. It was defeated.
On June 23, 2026 council defeated a motion to carry out the consultant’s landfill study except for accepting waste from other municipalities, then carried Resolution 220-2026 to engage the consultant on the recommendations “as amended”, including a single-season waste audit and capital of up to $343,000, if required.
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