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 2024 for Hilliard, and 2024 for 13 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 Hilliard, budget documents

   Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

3. Township of Hilliard, Budget 2022 (Hilliard-Budget-Final-2022.pdf)

   Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

   The newest budget posted, 7 PDF pages, a sideways scan with no text layer. Read by eye.

4. Council minutes, April 16, 2025

   Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

   2024 audited statements approved; 2025 budget by-law; land declared surplus.

5. Council minutes, May 13, 2025

   Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

   Purchase of a 2020 John Deere grader directed.

6. Council minutes, May 21, 2025

   Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

   1991 grader declared surplus; April 2025 accounts approved.

7. Council minutes, June 18, 2025

   Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

   May 2025 accounts approved.

8. Council minutes, July 16, 2025

   Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

   Bank loan by-law for the grader; option to purchase clause; June 2025 accounts approved.

9. Council minutes, September 17, 2025

   Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

   July 2025 accounts approved.

10. Council minutes, October 15, 2025

    Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

    Council remuneration for 2026 set per meeting.

11. Council minutes, November 19, 2025

    Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

    By-Law 2025-25, Council Remuneration.

12. Council minutes, March 25, 2026 (special meeting)

    Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

    Draft 2026 budget approved in principle with an increase of 7%.

13. Council minutes, April 15, 2026

    Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

    2026 budget, tax ratio and tax rate by-laws; Integrity Commissioner summary.

14. Council minutes, May 20, 2026

    Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

    Council acts on two Integrity Commissioner reports.

15. Council minutes, July 21, 2026

    Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

    2025 audited statements approved.

16. Monthly staff report, June 2025 (Clerk-Report-June-2025.pdf)

    Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

    Monthly staff report to Council; item 1 is Township Property.

17. Monthly staff report, June 2026 (Clerk-Report-June-2026.pdf)

    Township of Hilliard · retrieved 2026-10-13

    Monthly staff report to Council; item 1 is Township Property.

18. 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 single-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 13 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.