Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to Greater Madawaska's budget, taxes and council decisions. A rural township in Renfrew County around Calabogie, with a mayor and four councillors. Every figure links back to the public record.
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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.
$1.7Min savings at the end of 2025
Towns keep savings (called reserves) to pay for new trucks, roof repairs and surprises. Greater Madawaska had $1.7M saved at the end of 2025, down from $2.0M in 2019. That is 26% of one year's spending. Only 2 of 28 similar towns had less, compared with what they spend.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$4,719,601long-term debt at December 31, 2025, up from $3,332,861 a year earlier
Long-term debt is money the Township has borrowed and is paying back over many years. It stood at $3,332,861 at the end of 2024 and $4,719,601 at the end of 2025, after two new 20-year loans. The Township's 2026 budget sets aside $728,173 for debt payments. In answers to a candidate it published a list of possible new borrowing, including $3.05M in 2030 and $3.28M in 2031, and says these are planning assumptions, not approved debt. The increase we quote ($1,386,740) is worked out by us from the two year-end balances.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$1,533,868yearly funding gap in the Asset Management Plan
The Township's Asset Management Plan says it needs about $2,300,503 a year to replace its roads, buildings, vehicles and equipment as they wear out, and is setting aside about $766,635, a gap of $1,533,868. Its answer is to raise taxes about 3% a year for ten years for this purpose. In September 2026 the Treasurer told Council that the cost pressures she listed for 2027 would, on their own, mean a 9.48% rise, and that staff would work to bring it to a target of 4.72% to 5.32%.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$274,523drop in reserves and reserve funds in 2025, to $1,661,185
Reserves are savings set aside for later costs. The audited statements show them falling from $1,935,708 to $1,661,185 in 2025, because $889,456 was moved out to buy capital assets. Separately, the Township's election page gives a different total for each year: $2,083,876 for 2024 and $1,752,968 for 2025. By our working, each difference is within $2 of the balance of obligatory reserve funds in note 7 of the statements ($148,169 and $91,785). The 2023 totals in the two places match, so the two lists may count different things in different years. We do not know the Township's reason.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$970,239land added to the Township's assets in 2025, which the Township links in part to the Peaks Village lots
The Township says that a developer did not finish the Peaks Village subdivision, so it took eight lots that had been given as security and recorded them as land it owns. Land additions in the 2025 statements were $970,239. The Township says this was not money spent and that it also produced extra accounting revenue, but its answers do not give the value of the lots or say how it was set. The 2027 capital list the Treasurer showed Council on September 17, 2026 has a new line, "Peaks Village", for $330,000.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
+96%parks, arena and library, 2019 to 2025
Greater Madawaska spent $405K on parks, arena and library in 2019 and $795K in 2025. Prices only went up about 21% in that time. Only 5 of 28 similar towns had faster growth here.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
$7,622,505actual 2025 expenses in the audited statements, against a budget column of $5,858,750
The 2025 statements show expenses of $7,622,505 against a budget column of $5,858,750. The statements' budget column shows no amortization (the yearly wear-and-tear charge on assets, which is an accounting entry, not a payment), while actual amortization was $1,337,317. The Township says the gap should not be called an overrun. By our working, amortization explains about $1.34 million of the roughly $1.76 million gap, and revenue was also higher than budget by more than $1.3 million, partly because of the Peaks Village lots. The Township does not publish a line-by-line list showing the rest.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$1,259,775estimated landfill closure and post-closure liability, against a $340,000 reserve
A landfill has to be capped and watched for years after it closes. The statements count the expected cost, in today's money, at $1,259,775. The reserve set aside for it is $340,000. By our working the difference is $919,775. The statements call it an amount "to be recovered" from taxpayers in later years.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
2 claimsdisclosed in the audited 2025 statements, outcomes not known
The 2025 statements say the Township has been named in two claims and the outcomes cannot be known yet. The Township told a candidate that both are being handled through its insurance and its own cost would generally be limited to the deductible, and that it can say no more while they are ongoing.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$122,407moved to a reserve in 2025 from the policing budget, according to the Township
The 2025 budget set aside $863,385 for policing. Actual OPP costs were $730,596 and the new police board cost $19,097. The Township says the Province gave temporary relief on OPP bills, so Council moved the $122,407 difference into a reserve for future policing increases. The reserve schedule shows that reserve rising from $200,000 to $322,407. The Township has explained this. What remains open is how that reserve will be used.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
A property tax bill in Greater Madawaska pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what Greater Madawaska council controls.
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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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