Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to Hearst's budget, taxes and council decisions. A town in northern Ontario with a mayor and six councillors, which also owns its own electricity and internet companies. 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.
$3.2Min savings at the end of 2024
Towns keep savings (called reserves) to pay for new trucks, roof repairs and surprises. Hearst had $3.2M saved at the end of 2024, down from $4.8M in 2019. That is 13% of one year's spending. None of the 21 similar towns had less, compared with what they spend.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
2022the latest year of audited statements we found on the Town's Finance page
Audited statements are the yearly accounts that an outside accounting firm has checked. On the Finance page of the Town's website, the only statements we found are for 2022, and the auditor's report on them is dated September 19, 2023. We did not find later years. The 2026 budget does print 2023 and 2024 'actual' numbers and 2025 numbers marked 'unaudited', so the Town is tracking its results. The open question is whether the checked statements for those years are public.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$401,500interest from Hearst Connect budgeted for 2026, against $52,500 received in 2024
The Town owns Hearst Connect Corporation, a company that sells internet and telephone service. At the end of 2022 the Town's statements show a long-term receivable (money owed to the Town) of $3,900,000 from Hearst Connect, and the company's own condensed results show a net deficit of $(12,655) with net income of $398,142 for the year. The Town's budget line 'INTEREST - Hearst Connect' was $45,000 in 2023 and $52,500 in 2024, was budgeted at $200,500 for 2025, and is budgeted at $401,500 for 2026. The budget's summary page says only that income from 'Government Business Enterprises' goes from $294,500 to $480,000.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$454,301bank interest in 2025 (unaudited), against a budget of $308,800
The Town earned $690,378 in interest on its bank accounts in 2023 and $649,059 in 2024. The 2025 budget expected $308,800 and the 2025 unaudited result is $454,301, which is $145,501 more than budgeted (worked out by us). The 2026 budget expects $313,300. A budget set below what usually arrives leaves room for a surplus, which can then be spent on something else.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$320,089non-routine commercial and industrial spending over 2023 to 2025, with no budget (worked out by us)
The 'Com. & Ind. - Non-routine expenses' line had a budget of 0 for 2025 and no budget behind it in the earlier years either. Spending on it was $47,242 in 2023, $169,789 in 2024 and $103,058 in 2025 (unaudited), which adds to $320,089 (worked out by us). The whole commercial and industrial section had a 2025 budget of $58,900 and a 2025 result of $141,732. Separately, the department's net cost in the 2026 budget rises 95%, from $159,500 to $311,100.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
+45%water, sewers and garbage, 2019 to 2024
Hearst spent $1.8M on water, sewers and garbage in 2019 and $2.6M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$502,788spent on waste supplies and services in 2022, against a budget of $254,800
In 2022 the Town budgeted $254,800 for supplies and services in waste collection, disposal and recycling, and spent $502,788. The statements give part of the answer. The Town's landfill closure and clean-up liability (money it must set aside for closing the landfill one day) rose from $483,000 to $686,000 in 2022, and the cash flow statement shows a change of $203,000. The 2026 budget includes $105,000 to start an environmental assessment for the landfill.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$300,000a year estimated for repaying the recreation centre reserve, in year 4 of 15
A reserve is a savings account a town sets aside for a purpose. The 2026 budget says Council passed a resolution to repay the reserve used for the recreation centre rehabilitation. The estimate is $300,000 a year over 15 years, and the Town is in year 4. That is about $4.5 million in total (worked out by us), but the budget says the amount will be recalculated when the project is finished. The 2022 statements list commitments of $4,959,650 for recreation in 2023.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$1,569,252CWELCC grant received in 2025 (unaudited), against a budget of $407,500
In the 2025 budget, the child care centre's 'Operating Grant' was $1,200,400 and its 'CWELCC' grant was $407,500. The 2025 unaudited results show the reverse: $51,240 and $1,569,252. Together the lines are $1,607,900 budgeted and $1,620,492 received (worked out by us), so the total is close. The 2026 budget has $52,000 and $1,917,200, matching the new pattern.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$269,900total 2026 budget for Members of Council, down 2% from 2025
Ontario towns must publish a yearly statement of what each member of council was paid and what expenses were repaid. We did not find one on the Finance page, the council page or the budget documents we read. The 2026 budget gives one total for the cost of Council: $269,900, down 2% from $274,600 in 2025.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$397per home on garbage, dump and recycling, 2024
Hearst spent about $397 per home on garbage, dump and recycling in 2024. The typical similar town spent $304. Only 2 of 21 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
$213per home on snow ploughing, 2024
Hearst spent about $213 per home on snow ploughing in 2024. The typical similar town spent $101. Only 1 of 21 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
2024 tax year · Hearst, Ontario
Enter your home's assessed value to see roughly what you pay in property tax each year, who gets it, and what Hearst's share pays for.
Ontario still uses property values from January 1, 2016 for tax, so your assessed value is probably well below what your home would sell for today.
It is on your property assessment notice from MPAC, and on your tax bill. We filled in the typical value in Hearst.
a year in property tax, at 2024 rates
Hearst council sets only its own share. the Province sets the school rate.
An estimate. It uses the residential tax rate, and splits Hearst's share by what each service cost in 2024 after its own fees and grants (for example, water bills pay for much of a water system). Real bills also depend on your property class, local charges and any rebates.
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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.
Council meetings are open to the public, and councillors answer to you. How to reach Hearst's council · Council Books is free and paid for by readers: support this work.