Questions · 7 so far
We read Chatsworth's financial reports and meeting minutes, and compared its numbers with 82 similar Ontario towns. These are the things that stood out.
These are unusual enough that residents deserve a clear answer from council.
+125%running the town office, 2019 to 2024
Chatsworth spent $1.0M on running the town office in 2019 and $2.4M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time. Only 2 of 82 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.
2 yearsin a row with a qualified audit opinion on the same two points (2023 and 2024)
Each year an outside accounting firm checks the Township's yearly statements and says whether they "present fairly" the Township's finances. A qualified opinion means the firm found one thing it could not sign off on. For both 2023 and 2024 the firms say the same thing: the Township has not finished working out what it will owe to take old buildings, roads and other assets out of service (an "asset retirement obligation", a new accounting rule since January 1, 2023), and it records its landfill clean-up cost under an older rule that has been withdrawn. The firms say they cannot tell how much this changes the numbers. The statements themselves say management plans to finish the work as part of a facilities review after the year end.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
December 24, 2025date of the auditor's report on the year ended December 31, 2024
The Township's year ends on December 31. The firm's report on the 2023 statements is dated October 26, 2024. The firm's report on the 2024 statements is dated December 24, 2025. The 2024 report also says the earlier year was audited by another firm. On October 5, 2026 the Township's budgets and financial statements page listed statements up to 2024 and no statements for 2025. We did not find a reason for the timing in the documents we read.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$1,573,712of capital assets unfinanced at December 31, 2024 (2023: $699,437)
Capital spending means buying or building things that last, such as trucks, roads and bridges. The 2024 budget planned $3,201,700 of it. The statements show $4,083,965. The notes show that $1,573,712 of capital assets were "unfinanced" at the end of 2024 (money spent that has no matching loan, grant or reserve behind it), up from $699,437. The Township also signed to buy two plow trucks, at $419,275 and $410,338, which it says will be paid for with long-term debt. At the same time the reserves it keeps for capital purposes fell from $5,323,745 to $4,649,350. The Township's own reconciliation shows how the year balanced.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$4,368,409net financial assets at December 31, 2024, down from $5,378,811
Net financial assets is what the Township holds in cash and money owed to it, minus what it owes. It was $5,378,811 at the end of 2023 and $4,368,409 at the end of 2024; the budget had planned $4,476,958. Cash and temporary investments fell from $7,083,296 to $6,101,952. The statements say the Township has an undrawn bank credit facility of $1,000,000 for operating needs. Annual surplus was $1,459,197; a surplus on paper is not the same as cash in the bank.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
Background that helps make sense of the rest.
$3,160,539actual 2024 transportation spending, against a budget of $2,163,170
For 2024 the statements compare a budget of $2,163,170 for transportation services (mostly roads) with actual spending of $3,160,539. The same gap showed in 2023 ($2,154,341 budgeted, $3,124,441 actual). The statements show why: they print the budget for "Amortization of tangible capital assets" as nothing (amortization is the yearly share of an asset's cost, a way of counting wear and tear), while actual amortization was $1,564,131 in 2024. We worked out that without amortization, 2024 actual expenses were $8,332,609, which is under the budgeted $8,608,995. So most of the gap looks like a difference in how the budget is written, not an overspend.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$842,587put into reserves from the 2026 roads budget
The adopted 2026 budget raises $8,292,364 in taxation, against $8,047,567 in the 2025 budget, a rise of $244,797, or 3.0% (worked out by us). In the roads administration section the 2026 budget puts $842,587 into "Transfer to Reserves" and a further $181,348 into "Transfer to Reserves-Lifecycle" in the capital plan. Set against that, the audited statements show the Township's capital reserves fell by $674,395 during 2024 (worked out by us from $5,323,745 and $4,649,350).
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
+125%running the town office, 2019 to 2024
Chatsworth spent $1.0M on running the town office in 2019 and $2.4M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time. Only 2 of 82 similar towns had faster growth here.
| Year | Running the town office | Prices (inflation) |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | +0% | +0% |
| 2020 | +78% | +1% |
| 2021 | +115% | +4% |
| 2022 | +109% | +11% |
| 2023 | +133% | +16% |
| 2024 | +125% | +18% |
Change since the first year shown. The grey line is how much prices rose overall, for comparison.
Money spent running the office is money not spent on roads, water or safety. When office costs grow much faster than the services people see, it is fair to ask what the extra money is buying.
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 Chatsworth? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Running the town office: 2019 $1.0M, 2020 $1.9M, 2021 $2.3M, 2022 $2.2M, 2023 $2.4M, 2024 $2.4M.
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2019 to 2024 · Schedule 40 · archived copy
Biggest driver: Senior management, from $932K to $1.1M.
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2019 to 2024 · Schedule 40 · archived copy
Typical growth among similar towns: 42%. Chatsworth ranks 3rd of 83.
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2024, 82 similar municipalities · Schedule 40 · archived copy
2 yearsin a row with a qualified audit opinion on the same two points (2023 and 2024)
Each year an outside accounting firm checks the Township's yearly statements and says whether they "present fairly" the Township's finances. A qualified opinion means the firm found one thing it could not sign off on. For both 2023 and 2024 the firms say the same thing: the Township has not finished working out what it will owe to take old buildings, roads and other assets out of service (an "asset retirement obligation", a new accounting rule since January 1, 2023), and it records its landfill clean-up cost under an older rule that has been withdrawn. The firms say they cannot tell how much this changes the numbers. The statements themselves say management plans to finish the work as part of a facilities review after the year end.
A clean opinion tells residents the books are reliable. A qualified one is not a finding of wrongdoing, but it means a gap that nobody has measured. If the same gap is still open in the 2025 statements, it will have lasted three years.
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 Chatsworth? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Auditor's report on the 2024 statements, "Basis for Qualified Opinion": "Management has not completed its assessment of the tangible capital assets for potential asset retirement obligations." It also says the Township accounts for its landfill closure and post-closure liability "in accordance with withdrawn PS 3270".
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Independent Auditor's Report, PDF page 5
Auditor's report on the 2023 statements, "Basis for Qualified Opinion": "Management has not completed its assessment of the tangible capital assets for potential asset retirement obligations." The same landfill point is made. The opinion is headed "Qualified Opinion".
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2023 (BDO Canada LLP, October 26, 2024) · Independent Auditor's Report, PDF page 5
Summary of significant accounting policies, 2024: "Management intends to complete an assessment of the asset retirement obligation as part of the facilities review planned subsequent to the December 31, 2024 year end." The 2023 statements say the same, with "December 31, 2023 year end".
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Asset Retirement Obligation, PDF page 15
December 24, 2025date of the auditor's report on the year ended December 31, 2024
The Township's year ends on December 31. The firm's report on the 2023 statements is dated October 26, 2024. The firm's report on the 2024 statements is dated December 24, 2025. The 2024 report also says the earlier year was audited by another firm. On October 5, 2026 the Township's budgets and financial statements page listed statements up to 2024 and no statements for 2025. We did not find a reason for the timing in the documents we read.
Residents and the province use the audited statements to see how the Township is doing. When they arrive close to a year after the year they describe, the numbers are old by the time anyone can ask about them.
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 Chatsworth? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The report is signed at Owen Sound, Ontario and dated "December 24, 2025". It covers the year ended December 31, 2024.
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Independent Auditor's Report, PDF page 7
The report on the 2023 statements is dated "October 26, 2024".
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2023 (BDO Canada LLP, October 26, 2024) · Independent Auditor's Report, PDF page 7
$1,573,712of capital assets unfinanced at December 31, 2024 (2023: $699,437)
Capital spending means buying or building things that last, such as trucks, roads and bridges. The 2024 budget planned $3,201,700 of it. The statements show $4,083,965. The notes show that $1,573,712 of capital assets were "unfinanced" at the end of 2024 (money spent that has no matching loan, grant or reserve behind it), up from $699,437. The Township also signed to buy two plow trucks, at $419,275 and $410,338, which it says will be paid for with long-term debt. At the same time the reserves it keeps for capital purposes fell from $5,323,745 to $4,649,350. The Township's own reconciliation shows how the year balanced.
Unfinanced capital spending has to be paid for later, from taxes, reserves or new debt. The Township's long-term debt at the end of 2024 was $609,737.
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 Chatsworth? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Statement of changes in net financial assets: "Acquisition of tangible capital assets" budget (3,201,700), 2024 actual (4,083,965), 2023 actual (1,535,436).
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Financial Assets, PDF page 10
Note 5, accumulated surplus: "Unfinanced capital assets" (1,573,712) in 2024 and (699,437) in 2023. Note 6: reserves for "Capital purposes" $4,649,350 in 2024 and $5,323,745 in 2023.
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Notes 5 and 6, PDF pages 20 and 21
Note 13, contractual commitments: an agreement "to purchase a tandem plow truck for $419,275" and "a second truck for $410,338". "Both purchases will be funded through long term debt."
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Note 13, PDF page 26
Note 3: long-term liabilities total $609,737 in 2024 ($789,630 in 2023). Note 7 reconciliation of the budget: "Change in unfinanced amounts" budget 213,655, actual 874,275.
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Notes 3 and 7, PDF pages 17 and 21
$4,368,409net financial assets at December 31, 2024, down from $5,378,811
Net financial assets is what the Township holds in cash and money owed to it, minus what it owes. It was $5,378,811 at the end of 2023 and $4,368,409 at the end of 2024; the budget had planned $4,476,958. Cash and temporary investments fell from $7,083,296 to $6,101,952. The statements say the Township has an undrawn bank credit facility of $1,000,000 for operating needs. Annual surplus was $1,459,197; a surplus on paper is not the same as cash in the bank.
A township with a thinner cushion has less room if a large repair or a late grant payment comes up. A shrinking cushion is common in a year of heavy capital spending, but it is worth watching over time.
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 Chatsworth? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Statement of changes in net financial assets: "Net financial assets, end of the year" budget $4,476,958, actual $4,368,409, 2023 $5,378,811. "Annual surplus" actual $1,459,197.
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Financial Assets, PDF page 10
Statement of financial position: "Cash and temporary investments (Note 1)" $6,101,952 in 2024 and $7,083,296 in 2023.
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Consolidated Statement of Financial Position, PDF page 8
Note 1: "The Township of Chatsworth has undrawn credit facility of $1,000,000 for operating purposes."
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Note 1, PDF page 16
$3,160,539actual 2024 transportation spending, against a budget of $2,163,170
For 2024 the statements compare a budget of $2,163,170 for transportation services (mostly roads) with actual spending of $3,160,539. The same gap showed in 2023 ($2,154,341 budgeted, $3,124,441 actual). The statements show why: they print the budget for "Amortization of tangible capital assets" as nothing (amortization is the yearly share of an asset's cost, a way of counting wear and tear), while actual amortization was $1,564,131 in 2024. We worked out that without amortization, 2024 actual expenses were $8,332,609, which is under the budgeted $8,608,995. So most of the gap looks like a difference in how the budget is written, not an overspend.
A reader comparing the budget column to the actual column sees large overruns that are mostly not real. Showing both on the same basis would make it easier to see which lines truly ran over.
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 Chatsworth? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Statement of operations, 2024: "Transportation services" budget 2,163,170, actual 3,160,539, 2023 actual 3,124,441. Total expenses budget 8,608,995, actual 9,896,740.
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Consolidated Statement of Operations and Accumulated Surplus, PDF page 9
Statement of changes in net financial assets: "Amortization of tangible capital assets" budget "-", 2024 actual 1,564,131.
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Financial Assets, PDF page 10
2023 statement of operations: "Transportation services" budget 2,154,341, actual 3,124,441.
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2023 (BDO Canada LLP, October 26, 2024) · Consolidated Statement of Operations and Accumulated Surplus, PDF page 9
$842,587put into reserves from the 2026 roads budget
The adopted 2026 budget raises $8,292,364 in taxation, against $8,047,567 in the 2025 budget, a rise of $244,797, or 3.0% (worked out by us). In the roads administration section the 2026 budget puts $842,587 into "Transfer to Reserves" and a further $181,348 into "Transfer to Reserves-Lifecycle" in the capital plan. Set against that, the audited statements show the Township's capital reserves fell by $674,395 during 2024 (worked out by us from $5,323,745 and $4,649,350).
Saving up for roads is what residents are usually told they want. It also means a large share of the levy is not spent this year. Residents can ask whether the savings rate is enough to catch up on 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 Chatsworth? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Schedule "A", Municipal Taxation: "Total Budgeted Taxation" 8,292,364 (General levy 8,156,864). Roads administration account 01-0630-7500 "Transfer to Reserves" 842,587.
Township of Chatsworth, By-Law 2026-18, 2026 Budget (adopted February 18, 2026) · Schedule "A", PDF pages 2 and 17
Capital budget, PW Roads: "Transfer to Reserve - Lifecycle" 181,348.
Township of Chatsworth, By-Law 2026-18, 2026 Budget (adopted February 18, 2026) · Schedule "B", PDF page 32
Schedule "A", Municipal Taxation: "Total Budgeted Taxation" (8,047,567).
Township of Chatsworth, By-Law 2025-08, 2025 Budget (adopted February 5, 2025) · Schedule "A", PDF page 2
Note 6, reserves: "Capital purposes" $4,649,350 in 2024 and $5,323,745 in 2023.
Township of Chatsworth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, December 24, 2025) · Note 6, PDF page 21