Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to East Gwillimbury's budget, taxes and council decisions. A town in York Region, north of Toronto, with a mayor and six ward councillors. The Town estimates its population at 42,964 at the end of 2025. Every figure links back to the public record.
Follow East Gwillimbury in one tapWhere it goes
Questions worth asking
Each one is a question, not an accusation. Every one lists ordinary reasons it could be true, and the documents it comes from.
+100%running the town office, 2019 to 2024
East Gwillimbury spent $5.3M on running the town office in 2019 and $10.5M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time. Only 1 of 21 similar towns had faster growth here.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
$104per home on council, 2024
East Gwillimbury spent about $104 per home on council in 2024. The typical similar town spent $58. Only 1 of 21 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
$6,088,966left in the development charge fund at the end of 2025, down from $32,168,164 (a fall of $26,079,198, worked out by us)
Development charges are fees the Town collects from builders to pay for the roads, parks and buildings that new homes need. The Town keeps them in a fund that can only be used for that purpose. At the end of 2024 the fund held $32,168,164. At the end of 2025 it held $6,088,966, after $29,511,383 was spent on approved projects, most of it on the new Health and Active Living Plaza. Builders paid in $5,153,965 during 2025, compared with $13,458,383 in 2024. The Town says development slowed in 2025 and that a slower pace means less charge revenue. It also shows a ten-year plan of more than $343 million in capital spending. The 2026 capital budget draws on development charges for only a small share.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$6,644,012investment income in 2025, against $500,000 in the 2025 budget (a gap of $6,144,012, worked out by us)
The Town keeps its savings in guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) and in principal protected notes (PPNs). A PPN is a bond-like product whose return depends on markets, with the original money promised back if held to the end. Investment income was $6,644,012 in 2025 and $4,841,408 in 2024, and has grown every year since 2021, when it was $907,082. The tax-supported budget for 2026 assumes $500,000, the same as for 2025. The statements show $65,945,830 of the $110,598,335 investment total is in PPNs. The Town has explained part of the rise: investments matured at higher rates.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 6 sources
10 days and 15 dayspay suspensions the Integrity Commissioner recommended for the Mayor and for Councillor Johns
The Integrity Commissioner is an independent person who looks into complaints that a member of council broke the Code of Conduct. She can only recommend penalties. Council decides. The Town's site posts her reports on two members of council. In one, she found Mayor Virginia Hackson broke Code rule 10.1 by taking part in a January 21, 2025 item about a developer when she was owed over $3 million by one of its companies after selling it land. She recommended a formal reprimand and a 10-day suspension of pay. She did not ask a court to rule on the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. In the other, she found Councillor Brian Johns broke several Code rules with a September 24, 2025 letter about a development at 31 Sand Road. She recommended a formal reprimand, a 15-day pay suspension, a public apology to staff and training. We could not read council minutes, so we do not know what council decided.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$4,080,920spending that appears under recreation in the audited statement and under roads in the five-year review (worked out by us)
The audited statement of operations in the Town's 2025 report shows recreation and cultural services spending of $14,220,551 and transportation (roads) spending of $12,838,899. The five-year review at the back of the same report shows recreation at $10,139,631 and transportation at $16,919,819. The segment note prints $10,139,631 as the recreation total too, but the lines above it in that table add up to $14,220,551 (worked out by us). The gap, $4,080,920 (worked out by us), is the same amount in both places, moved from one line to the other. The overall total of $74,026,195 is the same in every table.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
+45%water, sewers and garbage, 2019 to 2024
East Gwillimbury spent $9.7M on water, sewers and garbage in 2019 and $14.1M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$11.1Mowed in unpaid property tax, end of 2024
At the end of 2024, $11.1M of property tax had been billed but not paid. That is 13% of everything billed. Only 3 of 21 similar towns had a higher share. A year earlier it was $8.7M.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$356,000final year of the Town's dedicated tax funding for running the Plaza, in the 2026 budget
The Plaza is a recreation, library and aquatics centre that opened in October 2025. The Town calls it a $100 million facility and says it was paid for from development charges and community capital contributions, with no tax money. To pay for running it, the Town added a dedicated amount to the tax levy over several years. The 2026 budget says 2026 is the final year of that extra funding, about $356,000 in 2026. The Town expects the Plaza's 2026 operating cost to be $2.8 million against about $1.1 million of extra revenue, and says the net cost is covered by money already set aside, with no further tax pressure. The Town has explained this clearly. What residents cannot yet see is how long the set-aside reserve lasts.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$30,390,017cash at the end of 2025, down from $58,343,010
A surplus is revenue less spending in a year. The Town reported a 2025 surplus of $47,433,311 but its cash went from $58,343,010 to $30,390,017. The cash flow statement shows where it went. Part of the surplus is not cash: $12,178,412 is roads and pipes handed over by builders, which count as revenue but bring in no money. The Town spent $42,096,675 on buying and building assets, and its obligatory reserve funds (money it holds for set purposes, such as development charges) fell by $23,861,892 as projects were paid for.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$12,914,134deficit shown in the 2025 budget column of the statements, against an actual surplus of $47,433,311
The statement of operations shows a budgeted 2025 deficit of $12,914,134 next to an actual surplus of $47,433,311. The Town explains this in note 3 of the statements. The budget Council votes on counts big building projects as spending in the year, while the audited statements record them as assets, and developer-contributed assets were not in the budget. The note walks from the budget Council approved to the one shown in the statements. Council's own approved budget had revenue of $135,893,648 and spending of $160,493,160 once transfers are counted.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
2024 tax year · East Gwillimbury, Ontario
Enter your home's assessed value to see roughly what you pay in property tax each year, who gets it, and what East Gwillimbury's share pays for.
Ontario still uses property values from January 1, 2016 for tax, so your assessed value is probably well below what your home would sell for today.
It is on your property assessment notice from MPAC, and on your tax bill. We filled in the typical value in East Gwillimbury.
a year in property tax, at 2024 rates
East Gwillimbury council sets only its own share. County or region sets its share, the Province sets the school rate.
An estimate. It uses the residential tax rate, and splits East Gwillimbury's share by what each service cost in 2024 after its own fees and grants (for example, water bills pay for much of a water system). Real bills also depend on your property class, local charges and any rebates.
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Each number links to the public document it came from. Check it yourself.
We ask questions. Every one lists ordinary reasons a number could look odd.
Towns are only compared with places of a similar size and kind, from the same yearly reports.
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