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 Elliot Lake, and 2024 for 10 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 Elliot Lake, council remuneration and expense statements

   City of Elliot Lake · retrieved 2026-10-05

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

3. City of Elliot Lake, budget documents

   City of Elliot Lake · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

4. The Corporation of the City of Elliot Lake, Consolidated Financial Statements, For the year ended December 31, 2024 (BDO Canada LLP, February 25, 2026)

   City of Elliot Lake (auditor: BDO Canada LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2024. Qualified opinion. 33 PDF pages. The statement of financial position (PDF page 6) has no text layer and was not used.

5. The Corporation of the City of Elliot Lake, Consolidated Financial Statements, For the year ended December 31, 2023 (BDO Canada LLP, October 28, 2024)

   City of Elliot Lake (auditor: BDO Canada LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2023. Qualified opinion. Used for the opinion and the landfill note.

6. City of Elliot Lake Operating Budget, 2026

   City of Elliot Lake · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Line-by-line 2026 operating budget against 2025, with a levy summary on the last page. 30 PDF pages (printed as pages 81 to 110 of a council agenda package).

7. City of Elliot Lake 2026 Capital Budget (sheet headed "Year 2025 Budget")

   City of Elliot Lake · retrieved 2026-10-05

   A one-page list of capital projects with a funding split. Its heading says 2025, so we used it only for the project list.

8. Staff Report: Council Renumeration Report, Year 2025 (Director of Finance and City Treasurer)

   City of Elliot Lake · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The Municipal Act s. 284 statement for 2025. 3 PDF pages.

9. 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 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 10 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.