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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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Bayham'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.
Ontario / BayhamUpdated Oct 5, 2026

Your town, in plain words

How Bayham uses the money we share.

A clear, checkable guide to Bayham's budget, taxes and council decisions. A rural municipality in Elgin County, Ontario, on Lake Erie, with a mayor, a deputy mayor and three ward councillors. Every figure links back to the public record.

Property tax raised in 2025$14Mall property in Bayham48% Town40% County12% SchoolsSee where your tax bill goes →
Town spending, 2025$9.4MAbout $3,137 per household, up 6.0% from 2024.See the money →
Property tax change+3.9%Bayham's own property tax came to $7.0M in 2025, against $6.7M in 2024.What changed →

Where it goes

Most of every dollar supports the everyday town.

Explore every service →
Water, sewers and garbage$2.7M · 28%
Roads and snow$2.4M · 26%
Police, fire and safety$2.0M · 21%
Running the town office$1.4M · 15%
Show all 8 servicesShow fewer
Planning and business$479K · 5%
Parks, arena and library$293K · 3%
Health$53,218 · 1%
Social services$7,440 · 0%

Day-to-day spending in 2025, from Bayham's report to the Province.

A fair comparisonHow does Bayham compare?Among 38 similar Ontario towns, Bayham's day-to-day spending per household is near the middle.Bayham is here · 21 of 38, lowest to highestCompare Bayham →

Questions worth asking

A closer look at the numbers.

Each one is a question, not an accusation. Every one lists ordinary reasons it could be true, and the documents it comes from.

All 8 questions
Worth askingMoney health

What did it cost residents to pay off the HMCS Ojibwa debt 15 years early?

$4,073,431.49remaining Ojibwa debt paid off on March 6, 2025, from a reserve

Bayham had a loan tied to the HMCS Ojibwa (the town's own words are "debt associated with the HMCS Ojibwa"). The loan had to be paid off or renewed in March 2025. Council made paying it off its top priority, and said so in public. On March 6, 2025, Council paid the remaining $4,073,431.49 from a reserve (a savings account the town keeps for a set purpose). The town linked its 2024 budget increase of 10.33 percent to this goal, and that budget included a further $1,000,000 levy for the reserve. We did not find a page that adds up everything residents put in over the years, or what the loan cost in interest.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 6 sources

Worth askingHow decisions are made

Why does the Asset Management Plan now call for yearly increases of 4.9% when the 2024 summary said 1.5%?

1.5% to 4.9%yearly increase the plan recommends, per the 2024 and 2026 budget summaries

An asset management plan (AMP) is the town's long-term plan for keeping roads, bridges and buildings in good repair. The 2024 budget summary says the plan recommends increasing revenues by 1.5% each year for 20 years. The 2026 summary says it recommends increasing capital tax revenues by 4.9% each year for 25 years. The capital levy (the part of taxes set aside for repairs and replacement) was raised by $150,098 in 2024 and by $168,250 in 2026.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources

Worth askingRising costs

Why did General Government fall from 18.32% to 12.84% of the budget while Capital Programs rose from 25.23% to 30.91%?

18.32% to 12.84%General Government share, 2024 to 2026 budget summaries

Each year's budget summary lists how the budget is split between services. General Government (the town's own administration) is shown at 18.32% in 2024 and 12.84% in 2026. Capital Programs (repairs and new building) is shown at 25.23% in 2024 and 30.91% in 2026. By our own arithmetic, General Government dropped by 5.48 percentage points and Capital Programs rose by 5.68 (worked out by us).

Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources

Worth askingSpending level

Is paid parking at Port Burwell East Beach paying for itself, and where do the figures come from?

$61,553.01surplus from the 2025 pilot, after expenses, as the town's highlights put it

In January 2025 staff proposed charging for parking at the East Beach so it would stop being paid for by the tax levy. Council approved a one-year pilot. In November 2025 the town said the program showed a net revenue of $99,806.47 and, "less expenses", a total of $61,553.01 to be surplus. Council made it permanent. The wording does not say whether $61,553.01 is the amount left after costs, so the cost side is unclear (our reading, worked out by us: costs of about $38,000 if so).

Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources

Show 4 more questionsShow fewer
Worth askingOpenness

What has the Municipality paid for Integrity Commissioner and closed-meeting investigations, and will Council's May 2026 resolution change them?

Bayham's Integrity Commissioner (who looks into complaints about council members' conduct) and its closed-meeting investigator are the same law firm. The town says their services "are billed back to the Municipality". On May 7, 2026, Council discussed the cost of investigations by provincially required bodies and passed a resolution to include that correspondence in future talks about services such as the Integrity Commissioner and in "office escalation policies". We did not find any yearly cost for these services in what we read.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources

Worth askingOpenness

How large are Bayham's reserves, now that the town says published claims exaggerate them?

Over $465,000general reserve interest accrued on 2024 investments, per a report to Council

Reserves are savings the town sets aside for set purposes. On February 19, 2026, the town's highlights said some information on social media and in newspapers is "inaccurate and exaggerating the current reserves". We did not find a page that lists every reserve and its balance. The pieces we found: a report said over $465,000 in general reserve interest was accrued on 2024 investments, and in March 2025 two reserves were named at $222,399 (Fire) and $132,080 (Rate Stabilization).

Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources

Good to knowSpending level

Why did Bayham's tax rate increase go from 10.33% in 2024 to 1.75% in 2026?

10.33% to 1.75%tax rate increase approved for 2024, then for 2026

The town's yearly budget summaries show very different tax rate increases. 2024 was 10.33%. The 2025 budget was set at a 6% levy increase, which the town says meant about 3.5% on the average tax rate. 2026 was 1.75%. The town gives reasons for the change: slower building in 2023 and fast building in 2024 and 2025, which gave it more properties to tax.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources

Good to knowHow decisions are made

Why did Council choose paper ballots for 2026 when staff recommended internet and telephone voting and said paper would cost twice as much?

Twice the costwhat the Council Highlights say paper ballots cost compared with the staff recommendation

In spring 2025 the Clerk gave Council a report on how to run the October 26, 2026 election. The report recommended internet and telephone voting. Council deferred it once to ask for more information. On May 1, 2025, Council rejected that option and chose traditional paper ballots, which the town's highlights say cost "twice the recommended option". The town says it will use in-person paper ballots.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources

Where your tax bill goes

A property tax bill in Bayham pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what Bayham council controls.

Tax bill split: Bayham 48%, County or region 40%, Schools 12%
$14Mraised in 2025
  • Bayham48%
  • County or region40%
  • Schools12%

  • Every fact, sourced

    Each number links to the public document it came from. Check it yourself.

  • No accusations

    We ask questions. Every one lists ordinary reasons a number could look odd.

  • Compared fairly

    Towns are only compared with places of a similar size and kind, from the same yearly reports.

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