Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to Hawkesbury's budget, taxes and council decisions. A town on the Ottawa River in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, with a mayor and six councillors elected by the whole town. Many of its documents are printed in French and English. 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.
$9.7Min savings at the end of 2025
Towns keep savings (called reserves) to pay for new trucks, roof repairs and surprises. Hawkesbury had $9.7M saved at the end of 2025, up from $8.3M in 2019. That is 42% of one year's spending. Only 2 of 45 similar towns had less, compared with what they spend.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$3.2Mowed in unpaid property tax, end of 2025
At the end of 2025, $3.2M of property tax had been billed but not paid. That is 15% of everything billed. None of the 45 similar towns had a higher share. A year earlier it was $2.5M.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$5,329per home on long-term debt, 2025
Hawkesbury spent about $5,329 per home on long-term debt in 2025. The typical similar town spent $1,066. Only 1 of 45 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
$27,068,822debts at the end of 2025, against $17,727,445 at the end of 2023
Debt is money the Town has borrowed and still owes. The statements show it was $17,727,445 at the end of 2023, $21,641,337 at the end of 2024 and $27,068,822 at the end of 2025. Of the 2025 amount, $14,000,000 is what the Town calls temporary debt for construction: short loans that are to be turned into longer debt when the building work ends. That part was $2,500,000 at the end of 2023. The Town's net debt (what it owes minus the money and investments it can spend) went from net financial assets of $303,055 at the start of 2023 to net debt of $15,940,622 at the end of 2025. The 2026 budget plans $1,374,999.00 for repaying debt principal and $855,189.00 for interest.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$3,388,438annual surplus in 2025, against a budget of $9,265,916
A surplus is what is left when a year's revenue is more than its spending. The 2025 budget in the audited statements shows an annual surplus of $9,265,916. The actual result was $3,388,438, which is $5,877,478 less (worked out by us). The Province's transfer payments were budgeted at $7,690,623 and came in at $5,302,845. The Town also bought $13,007,825 of assets against a budget of $18,807,300. The budget surplus is large because it counts grants meant for building projects as revenue, so a shortfall may mean projects slipped to a later year.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
(252,491)"Interest on debt" for waterworks in 2025, against a budget of 219,579
In the Town's supplementary statement for waterworks (the water system), the line "Interest on debt" is a positive cost in 2024 ($200,004) and in the water budget ($219,579), but is printed as (252,491) for 2025, a negative number. Across the whole Town, interest in 2025 was $429,728 against a budget of $700,040, while the Town's borrowing rose. The sewer statement shows ordinary positive interest of $268,215.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$10,771,650.00salaries, wages and benefits in the 2026 budget, up 10.58% from $9,741,246.00
The levy is the part of the budget raised from property taxes. The 2026 operating budget plans salaries, wages and benefits of $10,771,650.00, up from $9,741,246.00 in the 2025 budget, an increase of 10.58%. The tax levy line goes from $13,398,558.00 to $14,258,000.00, up 6.41%. The 2025 audited statements show salaries and benefits actually came in at $10,022,878, so the 2026 plan is $748,772 (about 7.5%) above that result (worked out by us). Part of the budget increase is fire dispatch, which the Town budgets as costing $1,191,200 in 2026 and bringing in the same amount in revenue.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$3,706,271amortization in 2025 with no budget figure
Amortization is the yearly wear on buildings, roads and pipes, counted as a cost. In the 2025 statements the budget column for amortization is a dash and the actual is $3,706,271. Total expenses were budgeted at $22,803,596 and came in at $26,957,659. Most of that gap is the missing amortization (the rest is worked out by us at about $447,792). The Town's note 13 says the budget figures are presented on a basis consistent with the actuals, but amortization is the one large line that has no budget figure.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$5,423,256the Town's investment in Hawkesbury Hydro Inc. at the end of 2025
The Town owns all 1,000 common shares of Hawkesbury Hydro Inc., the local electricity company. The statements carry that investment at $5,423,256 at the end of 2025 ($4,978,088 a year earlier), which is 76% of the Town's $7,163,145 in investments (worked out by us). The Town's share of the company's earnings was $529,635 in 2025, up from $123,287, while the dividend the Town received was $84,467 in both years. The Town has also endorsed a letter of guarantee of $399,528 and a line of credit of $1,000,000 for the company; the line of credit was unused at the end of 2025.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$233,000 to $833,000estimated groundwater monitoring cost at the contaminated site over the next three years
The statements list three obligations of uncertain size. Legal actions are pending against the Town, and the note says it "is not possible at this time to determine the amount". A former industrial site needs groundwater monitoring and the note puts the cost of the next three years at "between $233,000 and $833,000", the same range and the same three-year wording as the 2024 statements. And the Town has booked $2,470,592 for removing lead and asbestos from its buildings when they are sold or renovated.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
By-Law 4-2026the by-law the 2026 budget schedules are attached to
The mayor's direction of November 28, 2025 says the mayor prepares the proposed budget under section 284.16 of the Municipal Act and orders staff to prepare a budget schedule for Council on December 8, 2025. The Town's summaries show special Council meetings on January 26, 2026 (the 2026 budgets presented) and January 28, 2026 ("Budgets 2026"), and the January 28 summary links the file the Town calls the final 2026 budgets. The budget pages in that file are printed "Feb 03, 2026", after both meetings.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
A property tax bill in Hawkesbury pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what Hawkesbury council controls.
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We ask questions. Every one lists ordinary reasons a number could look odd.
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