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 2023 for Head, Clara and Maria, and 2023 for 0 similar towns. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.

2. Township of Head, Clara and Maria, council remuneration and expense statements

   Township of Head, Clara and Maria · retrieved 2026-10-13

   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. Township of Head, Clara and Maria, budget documents

   Township of Head, Clara and Maria · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

4. United Townships of Head, Clara & Maria, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2022 (Welch LLP, May 18, 2023)

   United Townships of Head, Clara & Maria (auditor: Welch LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-13

   Audited statements for 2022, 14 PDF pages, a scan with no text layer. Read by eye.

5. Agenda Package, Regular Council Meeting May 21, 2026 (includes the 2026 Draft Budget Options, May 14, 2026)

   United Townships of Head, Clara & Maria · retrieved 2026-10-13

   Draft 2026 budget with tax-increase options from 0% to 10%, PDF pages 83 to 86.

6. Council Package, Regular Meeting June 18, 2026 (Bylaw 2026-09 adopting the 2026 budget, Bylaw 2026-10 striking tax rates)

   United Townships of Head, Clara & Maria · retrieved 2026-10-13

   The adopted 2026 budget (Schedule A) and the 2026 tax rates schedule, PDF pages 115 to 124.

7. Agenda Package, Regular Council Meeting March 24, 2026 (includes the 2025 Council Statement of Remuneration and Expenses)

   United Townships of Head, Clara & Maria · retrieved 2026-10-13

   The Municipal Act s. 284 statement for 2025, PDF page 38.

8. Report to Council 20/02/20/1101: 2019 Council Expenses (February 20, 2020)

   United Townships of Head, Clara & Maria · retrieved 2026-10-13

   The 2019 council expenses report, one page. The newest year on the Annual Council Expense Reports page.

9. Agenda Package, Regular Council Meeting August 8, 2026 (Bylaw 2026-14, Volunteer Policy)

   United Townships of Head, Clara & Maria · retrieved 2026-10-13

   The draft volunteer policy and the bylaw to adopt it, PDF pages 126 to 130.

10. 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 town 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 town reported to the Province for that year.

Similar towns

Ontario lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2023 return, in 2023. This gives 0 towns. "Typical" means the median: half of similar towns are above it and half below. The size limits are a judgement call; moving them a little adds or drops a few towns, so treat small differences in rank as noise. Per-home figures use the household counts each town reports to the Province. Towns 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 towns; when a measure of money health is worse than 80% of similar towns; or when a one-year tax increase is higher than 80% of similar towns and well above inflation. "Needs an answer" means worse than 90% of similar towns. When there are fewer than 20 similar towns, 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 town'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.