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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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Douro-Dummer'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.
Ontario / Douro-DummerUpdated Oct 5, 2026

Your town, in plain words

How Douro-Dummer uses the money we share.

A clear, checkable guide to Douro-Dummer's budget, taxes and council decisions. A rural township in Peterborough County, Ontario, with a mayor, a deputy mayor and three councillors. Every figure links back to the public record.

Property tax raised in 2025$17.3Mall property in Douro-Dummer43% Town41% County15% SchoolsSee where your tax bill goes →
Town spending, 2025$8.2MAbout $2,285 per household, up 12.5% from 2024.See the money →
Property tax change+7.4%Douro-Dummer's own property tax came to $7.4M in 2025, against $6.9M in 2024.What changed →

Where it goes

Most of every dollar supports the everyday town.

Explore every service →
Police, fire and safety$2.5M · 31%
Roads and snow$2.1M · 25%
Running the town office$1.8M · 22%
Parks, arena and library$1.3M · 16%
Show all 7 servicesShow fewer
Water, sewers and garbage$369K · 4%
Planning and business$163K · 2%
Health$1,450 · 0%

Day-to-day spending in 2025, from Douro-Dummer's report to the Province.

A fair comparisonHow does Douro-Dummer compare?Among 39 similar Ontario towns, Douro-Dummer's day-to-day spending per household is on the low side.Douro-Dummer is here · 5 of 39, lowest to highestCompare Douro-Dummer →

Questions worth asking

A closer look at the numbers.

Each one is a question, not an accusation. Every one lists ordinary reasons it could be true, and the documents it comes from.

All 7 questions
Worth askingRising costs

The joint fire hall and public works building was meant to start earlier. Why has its $12 million price not changed, and what will the growing savings be used for?

approx. $2.6 millionthe Township's estimate of the building savings, as of the 2026 budget

Since 2022 the Township has put part of each year's property tax into a joint building for the fire department and public works. This is a levy, the total amount raised from property taxes. The plan is built on a $12million construction cost and a 4.4% 20-year debenture (a loan, like a bond) with a yearly payment of $914,537. The 2025 budget said construction had been delayed because of environmental factors at the site and that tendering and site preparation were expected to start in 2025. The 2026 budget says tendering and site preparation are expected to start in 2026. The Township says that because construction started later than planned, savings set aside for the building have been growing, and are now expected to reach approx. $2.6 million. It says that money could lower the loan, cover cost overruns or refill other savings. The 2026 levy for the building is $657,365.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources

Worth askingOpenness

The Ontario Ombudsman found that council broke the Municipal Act when it moved into closed session four times. What has council changed?

4 of 5meetings reviewed where the Ombudsman found the Municipal Act was broken

The Ontario Ombudsman is the Township's closed meeting investigator. In March 2026 the Ombudsman reported on a complaint about five meetings. The Ombudsman found that council did not state by resolution the general nature of the matter to be discussed in closed session on December 29, 2023, January 16, 2024, June 4, 2024 and December 3, 2024. The Ombudsman said the Township gave enough notice of the emergency meeting on December 29, 2023, and that the closed discussion on March 18, 2025 fit the exception for legal advice. The Ombudsman pointed out that the reason had been said aloud or printed on the agenda for some meetings, and recommended that council give more detail in every resolution to go in camera (closed to the public). The report says council must pass a resolution saying how it will deal with the report.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources

Worth askingOpenness

Why were the 2025 audited statements approved on September 22, 2026, and were the 2024 figures still unaudited when the 2026 budget was set?

September 22, 2026date council approved the 2025 audited statements

An audit is an outside accountant's check of the Township's yearly financial statements. The 2026 budget report, dated December 16, 2025, says the 2024 actuals (what was really spent in 2024) are presented as unaudited. The Township's own news post says the 2025 audited statements were presented to and approved by council at a special meeting on September 22, 2026. That is almost nine months after the 2025 year ended (worked out by us). The audited statements are on the website, but the file is a scan with no text we could read, so we did not use any figure from it. We did not find the 2024 audited statements on the Township's website pages we read.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources

Worth askingMoney health

Two big 2026 projects both draw on the Capital Project Reserve. How much will be left in it?

$1,900,000budgeted cost of the arena ice floor, $900,000 of it from a grant

A reserve is money set aside in earlier years for future spending. The 2026 budget pays for two new fire pumper trucks ($1,000,000) from the Capital Project Reserve. It also pays for a new ice floor at the Douro Community Centre ($1,900,000) from a $900,000 grant plus the Capital Project Reserve for the rest. That leaves $1,000,000 from the reserve for the floor (worked out by us), so about $2,000,000 in all from one reserve (worked out by us). The budget text says the building savings, expected to reach approx. $2.6 million, could be used to "replenish the Township's reserve after completing major projects such as the arena floor replacement". We could not read a reserve balance in the documents we could use.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources

Show 3 more questionsShow fewer
Good to knowRising costs

What makes up the 5.2% rise in the 2026 tax levy?

$7,777,290total levy requirement for 2026, up $381,689 from $7,395,601

The levy is the total the Township raises from property taxes. The final 2026 budget raises it from $7,395,601 to $7,777,290, a change of $381,689 or 5.2%. The tax rate rise as of the third draft is 4.3%, and the table puts the cost for a median property of $256,000 at $1,287.82, up $53.58 from $1,234.24. The Township explains much of the rise: police costs capped at an 11% yearly increase (a 1.5% effect on the levy), a 10% estimated rise in insurance, and the joint building levy. The line for "Township Boards and Agencies" is shown going from $983,605 to $1,091,802, a change of $108,197 or 11.0%.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources

Good to knowHow decisions are made

Will the $40,000 outside review of the Building, Planning and economic development work be published?

$40,000budgeted from the levy for the Building Department service review

The 2026 budget sets aside $40,000 from the levy for a Building Department Service Delivery Review. It says a council resolution passed on August 5 directed staff to hire a third-party consultant to review service delivery in the Building and Planning Department and in economic development. The goals the Township lists are efficiencies that keep or improve public safety, better communication between departments, measurable benchmarks for community satisfaction, and plain-language guides for residents. The budget does not say whether the consultant's report will be made public.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source

Good to knowHow decisions are made

Three of the four 2025 Integrity Commissioner complaints were passed to another firm. What did that cost?

4complaints received by the Integrity Commissioner in 2025

The Integrity Commissioner checks whether council members follow the code of conduct. The Commissioner's 2025 annual report says four complaints were received. One was dismissed. The other three were passed to another firm, Principles Integrity, because the Commissioner's office had a conflict of interest with the subject of the complaint. The report gives the cost of advice as $466.13 and the cost of complaints as $237.30. It does not say whether those costs include the three passed to the other firm, or what the outcomes were.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source

Where your tax bill goes

A property tax bill in Douro-Dummer pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what Douro-Dummer council controls.

Tax bill split: Douro-Dummer 43%, County or region 41%, Schools 15%
$17.3Mraised in 2025
  • Douro-Dummer43%
  • County or region41%
  • Schools15%

  • Every fact, sourced

    Each number links to the public document it came from. Check it yourself.

  • No accusations

    We ask questions. Every one lists ordinary reasons a number could look odd.

  • Compared fairly

    Towns are only compared with places of a similar size and kind, from the same yearly reports.

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