Questions · 9 so far
We read Carleton Place's financial reports and meeting minutes, and compared its numbers with 49 similar Ontario towns. These are the things that stood out.
These are unusual enough that residents deserve a clear answer from council.
$116per home on council, 2025
Carleton Place spent about $116 per home on council in 2025. The typical similar town spent $50. Only 4 of 49 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
There may well be a good reason. It is still worth asking what it is.
$139,000,000committed to the treatment plant expansions at December 31, 2025 (nothing at December 31, 2024)
At the end of 2025 the Town reported that it had committed $139,000,000 to the treatment plant expansions. A year earlier the same note shows nothing. Yet the Town's own debt, which it pays itself, is nil: the only long-term debt it reports is $3,150,300 that another body repays to the Town. The reserve set aside for the treatment plant expansion holds $6,495,239 and the water and sewer reserves hold $11,619,484. The Town's own explanation for the project is growth: it says the expansion is needed "to accommodate growth based on future development". We did not find a public plan that says how much comes from grants, from fees paid by builders, from borrowing or from water and sewer rates. The ten-year capital plan lists $40,000,000 for the water plant and $73,000,000 for the wastewater plant, which add up (worked out by us) to $113,000,000, not $139,000,000.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 6 sources
$830,431development charges left at December 31, 2025, down from $8,384,247
Development charges are fees builders pay when they build, to cover the cost of roads, pipes and other things growth needs. The law requires the Town to keep them in a separate fund. That fund stood at $8,384,247 on January 1, 2025 and $830,431 on December 31, 2025, a drop of about 90 per cent (worked out by us). The Town moved $10,676,702 of it into revenue during the year. The note on the segments shows $9,134,219 of development charge revenue went to environmental services (the water and sewer side). The same note says that in 2024 the Town let developers put off paying their charges: $1,095,180 of the 2025 balance and $1,200,044 of the 2024 balance is money owed, repayable between November 2025 and December 2030 with interest.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$11,114,306unfinanced capital projects at December 31, 2025
The Town's note on its accumulated surplus lists "Unfinanced capital projects" of $(11,114,306) at the end of 2025 and $(11,739,962) at the end of 2024. Put simply, that is work already built or paid for that is waiting for its funding (a grant, a developer payment or debt) to arrive. At the same time the Town held cash of $40,382,032 and reserves of $36,836,789. The Town also says it agreed to fund the up-front costs of water and sewer pipes on Highway 7 and McNeely Avenue and recover them from developers, and that $631,479 is still owed (2024: $1,425,257).
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$1,123,739owed to the Town by the Health Hub corporation at December 31, 2025
The Town says it signed an agreement in November 2023 with the Township of Beckwith and CPB Health Hub Solution Corporation to attract family physicians by creating a public health hub. It has committed $45,000 a year toward lease payments for ten years. In 2025 it also lent the corporation money to fit out the Health Hub: $1,123,739 is owed to the Town, repayable monthly over ten years at 4.79% a year. The Town also holds a Health Hub reserve of $1,304,163 (2024: $1,394,163).
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$494,800extra affordable housing and heritage grants in the draft 2026 budget
The first draft of the 2026 budget, shown to Council on November 13, 2025, proposed a 3% tax increase of $494,596, taking the levy from $16,486,530 to $17,301,010. Its list of significant changes includes "Additional Affordable Housing and Heritage Grants to Others $494,800", an amount within $204 of the whole tax increase (worked out by us). The same list shows the OPP contract up $214,000 (7%), the OCWA water and sewer contract up $184,000 and garbage collection and dumping up $170,000. We read only the draft; we did not find the adopted budget book, so we do not know what changed on November 20, 2025.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
Background that helps make sense of the rest.
$25,959,157less capital spent in 2025 than budgeted (worked out by us)
The 2025 budget planned a surplus of $54,076,209 and the audited result is $29,811,908. Budgeted revenue was $90,873,060 and actual was $66,525,724. The Town explains in note 18 that its approved budget treats capital projects as spending, but the statements do not, so the two cannot be compared directly. The note's own table shows capital expenses of $65,244,983 budgeted and $39,285,826 actual, a gap of $25,959,157 (worked out by us). Development charges counted as revenue were budgeted at $35,770,048 and came in at $10,642,996.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$6,646,685accounts payable and accrued liabilities at December 31, 2025, against $2,656,994 a year earlier
"Accounts payable and accrued liabilities" are bills received or work done that the Town has not yet paid. At the end of 2025 they were $6,646,685, up from $2,656,994 a year earlier, a rise of $3,989,691. The statements do not say why. Over the same year construction in progress grew from $11,758,940 to $33,676,256, with $22,165,302 added. The Town says all its payables are current.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
November 20, 2025date of the mayor's direction waiving the veto period
Under Ontario's strong mayor rules the mayor proposes the budget, Council can amend it, the mayor can veto amendments and Council can override a veto. The Town's budget timeline slide shows a veto period and an override period after Council's amendments on November 20, 2025, and says the mayor can shorten it in writing, after which the budget is deemed adopted. The Town's list of mayoral decisions shows that on November 20, 2025 the mayor issued a direction to "Waive the time period for Mayoral veto of budget amendments made by Council". The page gives no reason. The mayor also directed staff on August 21, 2025 to table the 2026 budget by October 31, 2025.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$116per home on council, 2025
Carleton Place spent about $116 per home on council in 2025. The typical similar town spent $50. Only 4 of 49 similar towns spent more.
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.
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 Carleton Place? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Council per home: Carleton Place $116; typical similar town $50; ranked 5th highest of 50.
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2025, 49 similar municipalities · Schedule 40 and Schedule 2 · archived copy
$139,000,000committed to the treatment plant expansions at December 31, 2025 (nothing at December 31, 2024)
At the end of 2025 the Town reported that it had committed $139,000,000 to the treatment plant expansions. A year earlier the same note shows nothing. Yet the Town's own debt, which it pays itself, is nil: the only long-term debt it reports is $3,150,300 that another body repays to the Town. The reserve set aside for the treatment plant expansion holds $6,495,239 and the water and sewer reserves hold $11,619,484. The Town's own explanation for the project is growth: it says the expansion is needed "to accommodate growth based on future development". We did not find a public plan that says how much comes from grants, from fees paid by builders, from borrowing or from water and sewer rates. The ten-year capital plan lists $40,000,000 for the water plant and $73,000,000 for the wastewater plant, which add up (worked out by us) to $113,000,000, not $139,000,000.
A project this size is many times the Town's yearly property tax levy. How it is paid for decides whether today's residents, new homeowners or the builders carry the cost, and whether water bills and taxes rise.
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 Carleton Place? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The records that would answer this can be requested: Funding plan for the water and wastewater plant expansions, with wording you can copy.
Note 15(i), Commitments: "The commitment on the Treatment Plant Expansions project at December 31, 2025 is $139,000,000 (2024 - $nil)."
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 15(i), Commitments, PDF page 22
Schedule 1, reserves set aside for committed use, 2025 (2024 in brackets): Water/sewer reserves 11,619,484 (14,262,460); Treatment plant expansion 6,495,239 (7,548,410).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Schedule 1, Continuity of Reserves and Reserve Funds, PDF page 28
Note 9, Long-term liabilities: total 3,150,300 (2024 - 3,315,959 plus a 328,130 loan that matured in 2025). The note says the payments of principal and interest on the 3,150,300 are "recovered from the MCVA" (the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 9(a) and (b), PDF page 18
Note 11, Tangible capital assets: "Construction in progress" 33,676,256 (2024: 11,758,940).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 11, PDF page 19
The ten-year plan lists "Water Treatment Plant Expansion" at 40,000,000 (building projects, page 2) and "Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion" at 73,000,000 (page 7).
2026 Approved 10-Year Capital Plan · PDF pages 2 and 7; the plan does not show how the projects are funded
The Town's explanation for the wastewater expansion: the master plan recommended it "to accommodate growth based on future development". The page does not give a cost or say how it will be paid for.
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion, Class Environmental Assessments · Notice of Study Completion, section "The Study"
$830,431development charges left at December 31, 2025, down from $8,384,247
Development charges are fees builders pay when they build, to cover the cost of roads, pipes and other things growth needs. The law requires the Town to keep them in a separate fund. That fund stood at $8,384,247 on January 1, 2025 and $830,431 on December 31, 2025, a drop of about 90 per cent (worked out by us). The Town moved $10,676,702 of it into revenue during the year. The note on the segments shows $9,134,219 of development charge revenue went to environmental services (the water and sewer side). The same note says that in 2024 the Town let developers put off paying their charges: $1,095,180 of the 2025 balance and $1,200,044 of the 2024 balance is money owed, repayable between November 2025 and December 2030 with interest.
Development charges are meant to pay for growth. When the fund is nearly empty and a $139,000,000 plant expansion is committed, the question is who pays for what comes next. Letting builders pay later also means the Town carries the cost until they do.
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 Carleton Place? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The records that would answer this can be requested: Development charge deferral agreements, with wording you can copy.
Note 7, Deferred revenues, obligatory reserve funds, Development charges: January 1, 2025 8,384,247; contributions from developers 2,767,255; interest 355,631; transfer to revenue (10,676,702); December 31, 2025 830,431.
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 7, table of transactions for the year, PDF page 17
Note 7: the Town "entered into arrangements with developers to defer the payment of the underlying development charge to a future date". The 2025 amount of $1,095,180 and the 2024 amount of $1,200,044 are included in development charges, repayable between November 2025 and December 2030 with interest rates ranging between 2.45% and 8.20%.
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 7, last paragraphs, PDF page 17
Note 17, Segmented information, 2025, development charges transferred to revenue: environmental services 9,134,219; recreation and cultural services 786,141; protection to persons and property 180,028; total 10,642,996.
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 17, December 31, 2025 table, PDF page 23
Note 15, Commitments, item (i): "The Town has entered into contractual agreements for the Treatment Plant Expansions project. The commitment on the Treatment Plant Expansions project at December 31, 2025 is $139,000,000 (2024 - $nil)."
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 15, Commitments, item (i), PDF page 22
$11,114,306unfinanced capital projects at December 31, 2025
The Town's note on its accumulated surplus lists "Unfinanced capital projects" of $(11,114,306) at the end of 2025 and $(11,739,962) at the end of 2024. Put simply, that is work already built or paid for that is waiting for its funding (a grant, a developer payment or debt) to arrive. At the same time the Town held cash of $40,382,032 and reserves of $36,836,789. The Town also says it agreed to fund the up-front costs of water and sewer pipes on Highway 7 and McNeely Avenue and recover them from developers, and that $631,479 is still owed (2024: $1,425,257).
If the expected money does not arrive, the cost lands on taxes, rates or reserves. The balance has hardly moved in a year, so a reader cannot tell when it will be cleared.
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 Carleton Place? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Note 12, Accumulated surplus: Unfinanced capital projects (11,114,306) (2024: (11,739,962)); Reserves 36,836,789; Deficit (189,599).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 12, PDF page 20
Statement of financial position: Cash 40,382,032 (2024: 37,308,351).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Statement of Financial Position, PDF page 6
Note 5(b): in 2021 the Town executed cost recovery agreements with developers for water and sewer on Highway 7 and McNeely Avenue and "agreed to fund the up-front infrastructure costs". The amounts receivable are $631,479 (2024 - $1,425,257).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 5(b), Long-term mortgages receivable, PDF page 15
$1,123,739owed to the Town by the Health Hub corporation at December 31, 2025
The Town says it signed an agreement in November 2023 with the Township of Beckwith and CPB Health Hub Solution Corporation to attract family physicians by creating a public health hub. It has committed $45,000 a year toward lease payments for ten years. In 2025 it also lent the corporation money to fit out the Health Hub: $1,123,739 is owed to the Town, repayable monthly over ten years at 4.79% a year. The Town also holds a Health Hub reserve of $1,304,163 (2024: $1,394,163).
The Town is acting as both a landlord's helper and a lender to a corporation outside the Town. Residents may want to know the total at risk and who is on the hook if the corporation cannot 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 Carleton Place? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Note 5(c): "In 2025, the Town executed a loan agreement with CPB Health Hub Solution Corporation" for fitting up the Health Hub, repaid monthly over a 10-year period at 4.79% per annum. Amount receivable 1,123,739 (2024 - $nil).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 5(c), Long-term mortgages receivable, PDF page 15
Note 15(g): in November 2023 the Town entered into an agreement with the Township of Beckwith and the CPB Health Hub Solution Corporation "to attract family physicians"; the Town committed $45,000 per year towards lease payments for ten years.
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 15(g), Commitments, PDF page 22
Schedule 1, reserves set aside for committed use: Health Hub 1,304,163 (2024: 1,394,163).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Schedule 1, PDF page 28
$494,800extra affordable housing and heritage grants in the draft 2026 budget
The first draft of the 2026 budget, shown to Council on November 13, 2025, proposed a 3% tax increase of $494,596, taking the levy from $16,486,530 to $17,301,010. Its list of significant changes includes "Additional Affordable Housing and Heritage Grants to Others $494,800", an amount within $204 of the whole tax increase (worked out by us). The same list shows the OPP contract up $214,000 (7%), the OCWA water and sewer contract up $184,000 and garbage collection and dumping up $170,000. We read only the draft; we did not find the adopted budget book, so we do not know what changed on November 20, 2025.
Grants to outside groups are a choice, unlike a police contract. If a grant line is as large as the whole tax increase, residents may want to know who gets the money and whether it is paid from taxes or from reserves.
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 Carleton Place? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The records that would answer this can be requested: List of 2026 grants to others in the budget, with wording you can copy.
Draft 2026 budget, tax levy slide: "2025 Tax Levy $16,486,530"; "Proposed Tax Increase $494,596 3%"; "2026 Proposed Tax Levy $17,301,010". The cover reads "2026 Budget 1st Draft, November 13, 2025".
2026 Budget, November 13th Overview Presentation · Slide 2 (cover is slide 1)
Significant changes in the 2026 budget: "Additional Affordable Housing and Heritage Grants to Others $494,800"; "OPP Estimated Contract Increase $214,000, 7%"; "OCWA Contract Increase $184,000"; "Garbage Collection and Dumping Cost Increase $170,000".
Note 15(c): the contractual expense for policing in 2025 was $2,594,051 (2024 - $2,400,528). The contract ends December 2025.
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 15(c), Commitments, PDF page 21
$25,959,157less capital spent in 2025 than budgeted (worked out by us)
The 2025 budget planned a surplus of $54,076,209 and the audited result is $29,811,908. Budgeted revenue was $90,873,060 and actual was $66,525,724. The Town explains in note 18 that its approved budget treats capital projects as spending, but the statements do not, so the two cannot be compared directly. The note's own table shows capital expenses of $65,244,983 budgeted and $39,285,826 actual, a gap of $25,959,157 (worked out by us). Development charges counted as revenue were budgeted at $35,770,048 and came in at $10,642,996.
Capital spending that is planned but not done is money still to be spent, or projects running late. Residents are told one number in the budget and another in the statements.
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 Carleton Place? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Note 18: "The budget included capital items such as infrastructure replacements and estimated costs for constructed assets, as program expenses, but the actual expenses have been removed" from the statements. Table: total revenues budget 90,873,060, actual 66,525,724; capital expenses budget (65,244,983), actual (39,285,826).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 18, Budget figures, PDF page 25
Statement of operations, 2025: Annual surplus budget 54,076,209, actual 29,811,908. Transfers from deferred revenue, development charges: budget 35,770,048, actual 10,642,996.
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Consolidated Statement of Operations and Accumulated Surplus, PDF page 7
$6,646,685accounts payable and accrued liabilities at December 31, 2025, against $2,656,994 a year earlier
"Accounts payable and accrued liabilities" are bills received or work done that the Town has not yet paid. At the end of 2025 they were $6,646,685, up from $2,656,994 a year earlier, a rise of $3,989,691. The statements do not say why. Over the same year construction in progress grew from $11,758,940 to $33,676,256, with $22,165,302 added. The Town says all its payables are current.
A jump in unpaid bills can be ordinary timing at the end of a busy building year, or a sign that the Town is stretching payments. The statements alone do not show 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 Carleton Place? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Statement of financial position: Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 6,646,685 (2024: 2,656,994).
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Statement of Financial Position, PDF page 6
Schedule 2, Construction in progress: balance at the beginning of the year 11,758,940, additions 22,165,302, balance at the end of the year 33,676,256.
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Schedule 2, Tangible Capital Assets, PDF page 29
Note 19, Liquidity risk: "Accounts payable and accrued liabilities are all current".
Town of Carleton Place, Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 · Note 19, Liquidity risk, PDF page 26
November 20, 2025date of the mayor's direction waiving the veto period
Under Ontario's strong mayor rules the mayor proposes the budget, Council can amend it, the mayor can veto amendments and Council can override a veto. The Town's budget timeline slide shows a veto period and an override period after Council's amendments on November 20, 2025, and says the mayor can shorten it in writing, after which the budget is deemed adopted. The Town's list of mayoral decisions shows that on November 20, 2025 the mayor issued a direction to "Waive the time period for Mayoral veto of budget amendments made by Council". The page gives no reason. The mayor also directed staff on August 21, 2025 to table the 2026 budget by October 31, 2025.
Waiving the veto period ends the chance of a veto and an override, so the budget was settled that day. That is allowed and can speed things up, but it removes the later steps that give Council a second say.
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 Carleton Place? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Mayoral decisions page: "2025-11-20 MAYORAL DIRECTION 2025-03" with the decision "Waive the time period for Mayoral veto of budget amendments made by Council." Also "2025-08-21 MAYORAL DIRECTION 2025-01", directing staff to prepare and table the 2026 budgets no later than October 31, 2025.
Mayoral Decisions Made Pursuant to the Municipal Act, 2001 · Decisions table, entries dated 2025-08-21 and 2025-11-20
The budget timeline slide lists "November 20th Special COW Deliberations and approval of Council Amendments", then "November 30th" for the mayor's veto of amendments, "December 15th" for Council to override a veto and "December 16th" for the budget to be deemed adopted, unless the timeline is shortened by the mayor's written direction.
2026 Budget, November 13th Overview Presentation · Slide 9 (timeline)