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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Clarence-Rockland'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.
Compare · 2025
How Clarence-Rockland compares with similar places
Is Clarence-Rockland spending a lot or a little? The fairest way to tell is to compare it with places like it. We picked every Ontario city of the same type (Ontario lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2025 return): 23 places with between 16,879 and 37,730 people.
How to read this. Each grey dot is one similar city. The large dot is Clarence-Rockland, and the line marked "typical" is the city in the middle. The label and colour say where Clarence-Rockland sits:
▼ Very low: lower than 90% of similar places
▼ Low: lower than 75%
≈ Typical: in the middle half
▲ High: higher than 75%
▲ Very high: higher than 90%
Warning mark: unusual in a worrying way for this measure, like very low savings or a very high tax increase
Being far from the middle is not wrong by itself, but it is where to start asking why.
One thing to keep in mind: "per home" uses the number of households each city reports to the Province. Some places count seasonal cottages as households and some do not, so comparisons with lake and cottage places are rougher than they look.
Similar places in Eastern Ontario include Loyalist, Greater Napanee, Russell.
Spending per home
What the city spends on each service, divided by the number of homes. This makes big and small places comparable.
Total day-to-day spending
Everything the city spent in a year, divided by the number of homes.
$4,083Higher than 13 of 23 similar places. Typical: $3,792
typical
$0$5,394+
City property tax
The city's own share of property tax, divided by the number of homes.
$2,595Higher than 12 of 23 similar places. Typical: $2,595
typical
$0$3,753+
Running the city office
Council, managers, office staff and the city hall, per home.
$570Lower than 12 of 23 similar places. Typical: $571
typical
$0$1,430+
Council
Council pay, expenses and meetings, per home.
$90Higher than 16 of 23 similar places. Typical: $66
typical
$0$332+
Roads and snow
Per home. Places with many kilometres of rural road spend more.
$581Lower than 13 of 23 similar places. Typical: $618
typical
$0$906+
Snow ploughing
Per home.
$98Lower than 12 of 23 similar places. Typical: $114
typical
$0$216+
Police, fire and safety
Per home.
$738Lower than 14 of 23 similar places. Typical: $783
typical
$0$1,228+
Fire department
Per home.
$234Lower than 16 of 23 similar places. Typical: $292
typical
$0$520+
Police
Per home. Most small Ontario places pay the OPP under the same province-wide formula.
$305Higher than 12 of 23 similar places. Typical: $305
typical
$0$891+
Water, sewers and garbage
Per home.
$882Higher than 13 of 23 similar places. Typical: $874
typical
$0$1,338+
Garbage, dump and recycling
Per home.
$244Higher than 21 of 23 similar places. Typical: $84
typical
$0$279+
Parks, arena and library
Per home.
$703Higher than 12 of 23 similar places. Typical: $703
typical
$0$1,258+
Planning and business
Per home.
$153Lower than 15 of 23 similar places. Typical: $196
typical
$0$338+
Money health
Signs of whether the city is living within its means.
Savings compared with spending
Savings, as a share of one year's spending.
56%Lower than 20 of 23 similar places. Typical: 87%
typical
40%258%+
Savings (reserves)
Money set aside for repairs and emergencies, per home. More is safer.
$2,271Lower than 19 of 23 similar places. Typical: $3,100
typical
$0$10,973+
Long-term debt
What the city still owes on long-term loans, per home.
$2,911Higher than 19 of 23 similar places. Typical: $1,212
typical
$0$4,432+
Unpaid property taxes
Property taxes owed but not yet paid at year end, as a share of all taxes billed. The Province’s financial indicators treat 10% to 15% as a moderate risk and more than 15% as high.
7%Higher than 12 of 23 similar places. Typical: 7%
typical
4.7%14%+
Share spent running the office
Out of every dollar spent, how much goes to running the city office.
14%Lower than 16 of 23 similar places. Typical: 17%
typical
9.2%29%+
How worn out things are
How much of the value of roads, pipes and buildings has already been used up. Higher means older.
41%Higher than 13 of 23 similar places. Typical: 41%
typical
31%58%+
How fast costs are growing
Growth over five years (2020 to 2025), and the latest one-year change in property tax.
Property tax increase, last year
How much more the city collected in its own property tax than the year before.
8%Higher than 21 of 23 similar places. Typical: 7%
typical
4.2%11%+
Property tax growth, 5 years
How much the city's own property tax grew over five years.
40%Higher than 14 of 23 similar places. Typical: 38%
typical
27%53%+
Spending growth, 5 years
How much day-to-day spending grew over five years.
54%Higher than 14 of 23 similar places. Typical: 47%
typical
28%79%+
Office cost growth, 5 years
How much the cost of running the city office grew over five years.
46%Lower than 15 of 23 similar places. Typical: 55%
typical
27%147%+
Council cost growth, 5 years
How much council costs grew over five years.
12%Lower than 20 of 23 similar places. Typical: 40%
typical
−48%203%+
Parks and arena cost growth, 5 years
How much parks, arena and library costs grew over five years.
116%Higher than 21 of 23 similar places. Typical: 74%
typical
52%135%+
Roads cost growth, 5 years
How much road and snow costs grew over five years.
43%Higher than 17 of 23 similar places. Typical: 38%
typical
−20%84%+
Source: Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2025, all 24 municipalities (archived copy). Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Retrieved 2026-10-01. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.
Places sort costs into categories a little differently, and some share services with neighbours, so small gaps mean little. Big gaps are worth a question.
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