Sources and method

Where this comes from

Everything on these pages comes from public documents. Here they are, with how we used them, so anyone can check our work.

Documents

1. Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR)

   Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The numbers behind the money and compare pages: 2019 to 2024 for Deseronto, and 2024 for 8 similar towns. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.

2. Town of Deseronto, council remuneration and expense statements

   Town of Deseronto · retrieved 2026-10-01

   What each council member was paid, and spent on benefits and expenses, 2023 to 2025. One statement a year; the link is the latest, and the council page links each year.

3. Town of Deseronto, budget documents

   Town of Deseronto · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Short budget summaries for 2024, 2025 and 2026 are posted. The line-by-line budget is in the council agenda packages.

4. 2025 consolidated financial statements

   Town of Deseronto (auditor: Baker Tilly KDN LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Audited statements for 2025 (41 pages; the town's own pages are scans), with the clean audit opinion dated August 14, 2026, debt, reserves and the water-system commitment.

5. 2023 consolidated financial statements

   Town of Deseronto (auditor: Baker Tilly KDN LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Audited statements for 2023, signed November 27, 2024, with the 2022 and 2023 spending by service.

6. 2026 budget summary

   Town of Deseronto · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Two-page summary: the 3.15% levy increase, water and sewer rate increase, and the year's projects.

7. 2026 Asset Management Plan

   Town of Deseronto (prepared by Agile Infrastructure) · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The town's long-term plan for roads, buildings, water and sewer, with the yearly spending needed and the tax and rate increases to pay for it (April 2, 2026).

8. Special budget council agenda, February 25, 2026 (Draft 3 of the 2026 budget)

   Town of Deseronto (CivicWeb) · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The Town Manager's budget change report and the line-by-line operating and capital budget, including the water and sewer account.

9. Regular council agenda, September 23, 2026

   Town of Deseronto (CivicWeb) · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Includes the budget variance report as at September 17, 2026.

10. Regular council agenda, September 10, 2025

    Town of Deseronto (CivicWeb) · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the auditor's presentation, the 2024 audited statements and the post-audit letter.

11. Regular council agenda, June 24, 2026

    Town of Deseronto (CivicWeb) · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the council remuneration review and the 2026-2031 Water Financial Plan.

12. Regular council agenda, September 9, 2026

    Town of Deseronto (CivicWeb) · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the interim Treasurer report and the OCWA second-quarter 2026 performance report.

13. Water & Sewer Liaison Board agenda, September 11, 2024 (with the 2000 agreement)

    Town of Deseronto (CivicWeb) · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the full water and sewer cost-sharing agreement between the town and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.

14. Statistics Canada, Consumer Price Index, annual average (table 18-10-0005-01)

    Statistics Canada · retrieved 2026-10-01

    How much prices went up each year, so cost growth can be compared with inflation.

How the numbers are worked out

Day-to-day spending

Total expenses as reported, minus amortization ("wear and tear"), which is an accounting cost rather than cash spent that year. Costs are shown in the service where they were recorded, before the town spreads its office overhead across services, so the cost of running the office stays visible.

Per home

An amount divided by the number of households the town reported to the Province for that year.

Similar towns

Ontario lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 8 towns. "Typical" means the median: half of similar towns are above it and half below. The size limits are a judgement call; moving them a little adds or drops a few towns, so treat small differences in rank as noise. Per-home figures use the household counts each town reports to the Province. Towns do not all count the same way: some include seasonal homes, so per-home comparisons are a guide, not exact.

Faster than prices

Growth is compared with Canada's Consumer Price Index over the same years.

When a question is raised automatically

When a cost grew at least 25 percentage points faster than prices and faster than 80% of similar towns; when a measure of money health is worse than 80% of similar towns; or when a one-year tax increase is higher than 80% of similar towns and well above inflation. "Needs an answer" means worse than 90% of similar towns. When there are fewer than 20 similar towns, automatic questions go no higher than "Worth asking", because one rank moves a lot in a small group.

What this cannot see

These records show totals by category, not individual payments. They cannot show whether a particular contract was fair, whether a purchase was split to avoid tendering, or who was paid. That needs the town's list of payments (its cheque register or accounts payable list), which residents can ask for under Ontario's freedom-of-information law (MFIPPA). That is the next thing we plan to add.