Questions · 8 so far
We read Callander's financial reports and meeting minutes, and compared its numbers with 23 similar Ontario towns. These are the things that stood out.
These are unusual enough that residents deserve a clear answer from council.
+58%roads and snow, 2019 to 2024
Callander spent $920K on roads and snow in 2019 and $1.5M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time. Only 0 of 23 similar towns had faster growth here.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
There may well be a good reason. It is still worth asking what it is.
$13.3 millionten-year gap for tax-supported assets under the plan's proposed levels of service, 2025 to 2034
The Municipality's own 2025 asset management plan (a long-range plan for looking after things it owns) says the money lined up for tax-supported assets over 2025 to 2034 falls $13.3 million short of what is needed to reach the condition Council has proposed. The plan itself says the gap is a measure, not a bill, and that other ways of closing it should be explored.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$1,169,332the water system's share of shared reserves on January 1, 2025, according to the financial plan
The November 2025 drinking water financial plan assumes water rates rise 2% a year to 2031. In the same plan the author says the system's value is falling faster than it is being renewed, that it "is not presently financially self-sustaining", and recommends that water rates be increased to account for the difference. The plan also explains that amortization (the yearly write-down of an asset's value) is not cash.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$2,039,786annual surplus in 2023, against a budgeted surplus of $517,769
The 2023 audited statements show an annual surplus of $2,039,786 against a budgeted surplus of $517,769. The budget for 2023 shows no capital grants at all, while the actual statements show $1,107,205 of them. Spending came in under budget. The town's note says the budget is prepared a different way from the statements.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$491,234in the tax rate stabilization reserve at the end of 2022, and nothing at the end of 2023
Reserves are savings accounts that council sets aside for later. In 2023 the audited statements show the tax rate stabilization reserve fall from $491,234 to nothing and the parks and recreation facilities reserve fall from $324,174 to $12,745, while the working capital reserve rose from $827,321 to $1,586,925. Total reserves rose from $7,032,924 to $7,480,277.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$1,581,553municipal debt at December 31, 2023, before the Operations Buildings loan
The 2025 budget package says the Municipality intends to go into debt to help pay for the new Operations Buildings, which will raise the yearly debt repayment. At the end of 2023 the Municipality owed $1,581,553 on four loans, and its yearly repayment limit set by the Province was $1,860,709. The budget package does not give the loan amount in the text we could read.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
Background that helps make sense of the rest.
May 12, 2026date of the Integrity Commissioner's public report
On May 12, 2026 the Municipality's Integrity Commissioner, E4m, reported on two former members of council, former Mayor Robb Noon and former Councillor Irene Smit. For each, the report says the conduct toward municipal staff met the threshold for workplace harassment, on the balance of probabilities. It says both resigned and no further penalty or remedial action was recommended. The public summary does not give the underlying evidence.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$116,572.15total council honoraria and expenses in 2023, as printed in the clerk's report
The law asks the treasurer to report what each member of council was paid and reimbursed by March 31 of the next year. The 2023 report is dated March 26, 2024 and gives a total for council of $116,572.15. We found no report for 2024 or 2025 on the pages we read, and the member-by-member table in the 2023 report prints its labels and numbers out of line, so we did not publish any one member's figures.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
+58%roads and snow, 2019 to 2024
Callander spent $920K on roads and snow in 2019 and $1.5M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time. Only 0 of 23 similar towns had faster growth here.
| Year | Roads and snow | Prices (inflation) |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | +0% | +0% |
| 2020 | −2% | +1% |
| 2021 | +15% | +4% |
| 2022 | +40% | +11% |
| 2023 | +40% | +16% |
| 2024 | +58% | +18% |
Change since the first year shown. The grey line is how much prices rose overall, for comparison.
When one area grows much faster than prices, it is either doing more (which may be great) or paying more for the same thing. Residents deserve to know which.
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 Callander? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Roads and snow: 2019 $920K, 2020 $901K, 2021 $1.1M, 2022 $1.3M, 2023 $1.3M, 2024 $1.5M.
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2019 to 2024 · Schedule 40 · archived copy
Biggest driver: Bridges and culverts, from $696K to $1.4M.
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2019 to 2024 · Schedule 40 · archived copy
Typical growth among similar towns: 23%. Callander ranks 1st of 24.
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2024, 23 similar municipalities · Schedule 40 · archived copy
$13.3 millionten-year gap for tax-supported assets under the plan's proposed levels of service, 2025 to 2034
The Municipality's own 2025 asset management plan (a long-range plan for looking after things it owns) says the money lined up for tax-supported assets over 2025 to 2034 falls $13.3 million short of what is needed to reach the condition Council has proposed. The plan itself says the gap is a measure, not a bill, and that other ways of closing it should be explored.
Roads, buildings and equipment wear out whether or not money is set aside. A gap that is not closed later means bigger tax increases, borrowing, or worse roads.
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 Callander? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The plan says the Municipality's infrastructure has "an estimated replacement value of $105.5 million" and that "The remaining $15.1 million (14%) are in Poor to Very Poor condition."
2025 Asset Management Plan · Executive Summary, PDF page 4
Under the proposed levels of service the plan says "a funding gap of $13.3 million exists over the same period" and shows a 10-year total need of $43.8 M against 10-year funding of $30.5 M. To close it the Municipality "would have to increase capital contributions by approximately $295,900 per year (4.1% of 2025 tax levy)" for ten years, plus inflation.
2025 Asset Management Plan · Financing Strategy, section C, PDF pages 46 to 48 (Figure 7)
The town's own explanation: the plan says the gap measured against the full engineering schedule is "a notional gap of $20.9 million", and that eliminating it "is unrealistic" in the short term, which is why it uses the smaller proposed-level-of-service gap. It also says that if the Municipality got an extra $206,700 a year in capital grants the gap would be $11.2 million.
2025 Asset Management Plan · Financing Strategy, sections B and C, PDF pages 45 to 48
$1,169,332the water system's share of shared reserves on January 1, 2025, according to the financial plan
The November 2025 drinking water financial plan assumes water rates rise 2% a year to 2031. In the same plan the author says the system's value is falling faster than it is being renewed, that it "is not presently financially self-sustaining", and recommends that water rates be increased to account for the difference. The plan also explains that amortization (the yearly write-down of an asset's value) is not cash.
Water customers pay for the system through their rates. If rates cover only today's running costs, the bill for replacing pipes and plant lands later.
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 Callander? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The plan lists a water rate of 5.137493 per cubic metre in 2025 rising to 5.785652 in 2031, labelled "% rate increase 2%" each year.
Callander Drinking Water System Financial Plan, Rev. 1 · section 3.1, Table 3.1, PDF page 9
The plan says "At no point in the projected planning period is the replacement rate of asset value equivalent to the amortization rate" and "The steady decrease in the accumulated surplus shows that the DWS is not presently financially self-sustaining." Its conclusion adds that the Township's 2025 AMP estimated an infrastructure debt of over $5M and that "It is recommended that water rates are increased to account for the difference."
Callander Drinking Water System Financial Plan, Rev. 1 · sections 4.1.3 and 6, PDF pages 13 and 14
The town's own explanation: the plan says "amortization expense is a financial write-off of the capital assets and it is not a cash expenditure itself", and that the water system's share of the shared reserve funds was $1,169,332 as of Jan 1, 2025.
Callander Drinking Water System Financial Plan, Rev. 1 · section 3.2 (PDF page 9) and section 4.2 (PDF page 14)
$2,039,786annual surplus in 2023, against a budgeted surplus of $517,769
The 2023 audited statements show an annual surplus of $2,039,786 against a budgeted surplus of $517,769. The budget for 2023 shows no capital grants at all, while the actual statements show $1,107,205 of them. Spending came in under budget. The town's note says the budget is prepared a different way from the statements.
A budget that leaves out expected grants makes the surplus look larger than the day-to-day finances are. Residents can only judge whether taxes are set right if the budget and the year-end results line up.
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 Callander? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The Consolidated Statement of Operations shows ANNUAL SURPLUS: Budget 2023 $517,769, Actual 2023 $2,039,786. Total revenue was $9,128,649 budgeted and $10,569,384 actual; total expenses were $8,610,880 budgeted and $8,529,598 actual.
2023 Consolidated Financial Statements · Consolidated Statement of Operations, statement page 5, PDF page 7
On the same statement "Government transfers - capital" is "-" in the 2023 budget column and $1,107,205 in the actual column (2022: $1,891,839). "Other" revenue was $367,387 budgeted and $659,546 actual. Worked out by us: total revenue was about 16% ($1.4 million) above budget, and nearly all of that gap is the capital transfers plus the amount by which "Other" beat its budget.
2023 Consolidated Financial Statements · Consolidated Statement of Operations, statement page 5, PDF page 7
The town's own explanation: Note 17 says "The unaudited budget adopted for the current year was prepared on a fund basis, and has been restated to conform with the accounting and reporting standards adopted for the current year actual results." The budget column shows amortization of $1,446,586, the same figure as actual, on the Statement of Change in Net Financial Assets.
2023 Consolidated Financial Statements · Note 17, PDF page 21; Statement of Change in Net Financial Assets, PDF page 8
$491,234in the tax rate stabilization reserve at the end of 2022, and nothing at the end of 2023
Reserves are savings accounts that council sets aside for later. In 2023 the audited statements show the tax rate stabilization reserve fall from $491,234 to nothing and the parks and recreation facilities reserve fall from $324,174 to $12,745, while the working capital reserve rose from $827,321 to $1,586,925. Total reserves rose from $7,032,924 to $7,480,277.
Reserves are meant to cushion tax rates and pay for future projects. Residents can only tell whether that is happening if the moves between reserves are explained.
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 Callander? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Note 15 lists reserves and reserve funds for 2023 and 2022: Tax rate stabilization "-" and $491,234; Parks and recreation facilities $12,745 and $324,174; Working capital $1,586,925 and $827,321; Waterfront revitalization $106,014 and "-". The total is $7,480,277 in 2023 and $7,032,924 in 2022.
2023 Consolidated Financial Statements · Note 15, Accumulated Surplus, statement page 15, PDF page 17
The statements print no explanation of these moves. The budget page links a schedule of reserves and reserve funds and the reserve policy, but they are on the meeting portal, which we did not open.
2023 Consolidated Financial Statements · Notes 15 and 17, PDF pages 17 and 21 (no explanation found)
$1,581,553municipal debt at December 31, 2023, before the Operations Buildings loan
The 2025 budget package says the Municipality intends to go into debt to help pay for the new Operations Buildings, which will raise the yearly debt repayment. At the end of 2023 the Municipality owed $1,581,553 on four loans, and its yearly repayment limit set by the Province was $1,860,709. The budget package does not give the loan amount in the text we could read.
Debt repayments come out of the tax levy for years. Residents should know the size and length of the loan before the building is under way.
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 Callander? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The 2025 Budget Overview says: "The intention is to go into debt to assist in financing the Operations Buildings, which will leave our projected debt repayment to be higher by the end of 2025, however still within reasonable limits." Another page describes the Nipissing Street Operations Yard rebuild as "tentative and based on Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment application in front of Council."
2025 Budget Overview · Debt load page, PDF page 13; Capital budget page, PDF page 7 (text on designed pages; figures on them are pictures and were not used)
Note 11 shows municipal debt of $1,581,553 at the end of 2023 and says the yearly principal and interest payments "were within the annual debt repayment limit of $1,860,709 prescribed by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing." Principal and interest due in 2024 were $201,884 and $52,579.
2023 Consolidated Financial Statements · Note 11, statement pages 13 and 14, PDF pages 15 and 16
May 12, 2026date of the Integrity Commissioner's public report
On May 12, 2026 the Municipality's Integrity Commissioner, E4m, reported on two former members of council, former Mayor Robb Noon and former Councillor Irene Smit. For each, the report says the conduct toward municipal staff met the threshold for workplace harassment, on the balance of probabilities. It says both resigned and no further penalty or remedial action was recommended. The public summary does not give the underlying evidence.
An independent officer's finding about how council members treated staff is something residents may want to know when they vote, even when the people have left office.
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 Callander? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The report says that "the conduct of Councillor Smit was determined to constitute workplace harassment" and "the conduct of Mayor Noon was determined to constitute workplace harassment", on the balance of probabilities.
Integrity Commissioner Report, May 12, 2026 · Findings and Recommendations, page 4 of 5
The report says "both Mayor Noon and Councillor Smit have resigned their positions on Council" and "we find that no further recommendations either as to penalty or remedial actions are necessary." It says it "does not set out the underlying evidence in detail."
Integrity Commissioner Report, May 12, 2026 · page 5 of 5 and Background, page 2 of 5
$116,572.15total council honoraria and expenses in 2023, as printed in the clerk's report
The law asks the treasurer to report what each member of council was paid and reimbursed by March 31 of the next year. The 2023 report is dated March 26, 2024 and gives a total for council of $116,572.15. We found no report for 2024 or 2025 on the pages we read, and the member-by-member table in the 2023 report prints its labels and numbers out of line, so we did not publish any one member's figures.
Pay and expenses are public money. A report that is easy to find and easy to read is how residents check it.
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 Callander? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The report says the Clerk/Treasurer "is responsible for preparing a report that itemized remuneration and expenses paid to Council and Committees in the previous year, by no later than March 31." It says "The total Council honoraria and expenses amount to $116,572.15" and that planning committee expenses were $1,440.00.
Report 2024-038 FINANCE: 2023 Council & Board Members Honoraria & Expenses · Executive Summary, page 1