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 2025 for Dryden, and 2025 for 4 similar places. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.

2. City of Dryden, budget documents

   City of Dryden · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The city’s published budgets. Used to check its plans against what it reported.

3. The Corporation of the City of Dryden, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP)

   City of Dryden (auditor: MNP LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited 2024 statements, auditor's report dated January 26, 2026. 33 PDF pages; the statement of financial position (PDF page 6) is a scanned image and was not used.

4. City of Dryden, Year End 2025, Annual Financial Report (unaudited), report to council

   City of Dryden (Corporation, finance) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Unaudited 2025 year-end report to council: operating results, debt, capital projects and reserves. 15 numbered pages.

5. City of Dryden, 2025 Operating Budget Summary (final)

   City of Dryden · retrieved 2026-10-05

   One-page budget by department, 2024 and 2025.

6. The Corporation of the City of Dryden, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2023

   City of Dryden · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited 2023 statements. Saved; the 2023 comparatives were taken from the 2024 statements.

7. Schedule A, 2026 Operating Budget Summary (final, January 12, 2026)

   City of Dryden · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Word file. Read for background only; not cited, because our checker cannot read Word files.

8. 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 city 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 city reported to the Province for that year.

Similar places

Ontario single-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2025 return, in 2025. This gives 4 places. "Typical" means the median: half of similar places are above it and half below. The size limits are a judgement call; moving them a little adds or drops a few places, so treat small differences in rank as noise. Per-home figures use the household counts each city reports to the Province. Places 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 places; when a measure of money health is worse than 80% of similar places; or when a one-year tax increase is higher than 80% of similar places and well above inflation. "Needs an answer" means worse than 90% of similar places. When there are fewer than 20 similar places, 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 city'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.