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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Hastings Highlands'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.
A clear, checkable guide to Hastings Highlands' budget, taxes and council decisions. A municipality of about 4,400 people in Eastern Ontario. Every figure links back to the public record.
$2,020,857plus HST, awarded April 15, 2026 for Road 62 design and contract administration; the other proposal was $1,233,510 plus HST
Hastings Highlands Road 62 (the former Provincial Highway 62) is to be rebuilt over 28.8 kilometres, with $25 million of provincial funding announced on March 16, 2026. Before that money was announced, council voted on December 17, 2025 to set aside its usual rule that professional work over $100,000 goes through a fully open competition, and to invite only a short list of engineering firms. Staff invited five firms. Two sent proposals. On April 15, 2026 council awarded the design and contract administration work to the higher-priced firm, Ainley Graham & Associates Limited, at $2,020,857 plus HST, with an extra 10% set aside for changes. The other firm, D. M. Wills Associates Limited, offered $1,233,510 plus HST. The town’s scoring gave the first firm 86 out of 100 and the second 59, and price counted for only 20 of the 100 points. The Mayor declared an interest in the item (a close relative works for one of the companies that bid) and left the room while it was decided.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 6 sources
$5,372,000estimated landfill closing and monitoring cost recorded at the end of 2025, against $911,522 in the waste disposal reserve
A landfill has to be covered, watched and kept safe for decades after it closes. Since 2023, accounting rules make a town write that future cost down as money it owes. Hastings Highlands runs nine waste sites (six open, three closed). Its audited 2025 statements record $5,372,000 for closing and watching the landfills, plus $1,065,986 for other things like a building with asbestos and old gravel pits and fuel tanks, a total of $6,437,986. The landfill part was $2,584,500 at the start of 2024 and $5,230,100 at the end of it, after the town revised its estimates that year. The waste disposal savings account (reserve) held $911,522 at the end of 2025. The town’s own report on its 2025 budget says it did not include a landfill closing cost of $2,438,500 in the budget, and the 2025 asset plan leaves landfill closing costs out on purpose. The 2026 budget adds $15,000 to the closing reserve. The documents we read do not say why the estimates changed in 2024, or how the town plans to pay.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
An integrity commissioner is the person who looks into complaints that a council member broke the code of conduct. In Hastings Highlands the same lawyer has held that job since 2018 and also acts as the town’s legal counsel. In a letter dated January 23, 2025, Ontario’s Ombudsman wrote to council after a member of the public complained. The letter says the arrangement “is inconsistent with best practices” and “strongly” encourages the town to keep the two roles separate. Council accepted the letter as correspondence “for information” at its February 19, 2025 meeting. We searched the 17 regular council agendas (by our count) from March 19, 2025 to September 16, 2026 and found no report, motion or other response, and the town’s own Integrity Commissioner page still names the same law firm in 2026. The firm’s 2025 annual report says it disagrees with the Ombudsman’s view. The Ombudsman’s letter records that municipal staff said the commissioner takes steps to avoid matters on which he has already advised the town.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$4.4 milliona year gap, from $6.6 million needed to about $2.2 million set aside, in the town’s 2025 asset plan
An asset management plan lists what a town owns (roads, bridges, culverts, buildings, trucks) and what it will cost to replace each piece as it wears out. The town’s 2025 plan values what it owns at $160.3 million. It says the town needs to put $6.6 million a year toward replacing these things and now puts in about $2.2 million, a gap of $4.4 million a year. Of three ways to close the gap, the plan says the town chose the one that reaches full funding in 15 years with tax increases of “approximately 2.7% annually”. The town’s approved budgets raised the amount collected through municipal property tax by 5.95% in 2025 and 4.88% in 2026, but those figures also include growth and other costs, so they cannot be compared with the 2.7% directly. The town has published all of these numbers. What residents have not been shown is a plan that links them.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
A council member who has a money interest in a matter, directly or through a family member, must say so, leave the room and not vote. Hastings Highlands keeps a public list of these declarations. It has 28 entries from January 18, 2023 to September 16, 2026, 25 of them by council members. The Mayor made four, each about a relative: March 1, 2023 (a transfer of part of a road to the town from land owned by a relative), May 3, 2023 (a rezoning application for a relative), June 28, 2023 (a road transfer and development agreement with a relative) and April 15, 2026 (the Highway 62 design contract, because a relative works for a bidder). In the one 2026 case we could check, the minutes show the Mayor left the room for the vote. The list shows the rules were followed. It does not show what the town decided in the 2023 matters or on what terms.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
In 2019, Hastings Highlands had $2.5M more in cash and money owed to it than it owed to others. By 2025 it was −$1.1M. About 175% of that change ($6.4M) is a new accounting rule from 2023: towns must now record the future cost of closing things like a landfill. That is not new spending or borrowing. Even leaving that out, only 20 of 28 similar towns are in a weaker position.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 6 sources
Hastings Highlands spent about $526 per home on garbage, dump and recycling in 2025. The typical similar town spent $197. None of the 28 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 5 sources
Where your tax bill goes
A property tax bill in Hastings Highlands pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what Hastings Highlands council controls.
Tax bill split: Hastings Highlands 63%, County or region 25%, Schools 12%
$15Mraised in 2025
Hastings Highlands63%
County or region25%
Schools12%
How Hastings Highlands' share of the bill compares with similar towns
Can we count your visit? With your OK, we use Google Analytics to see which pages help people. It sets cookies and sends visit data to Google. Nothing loads unless you say yes. Privacy