Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to Hornepayne's budget, taxes and council decisions. A township in northern Ontario with a mayor and four councillors. Every figure links back to the public record.
Follow Hornepayne in one tapWhere it goes
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.
$1.3Min savings at the end of 2024
Towns keep savings (called reserves) to pay for new trucks, roof repairs and surprises. Hornepayne had $1.3M saved at the end of 2024, up from $1.1M in 2019. That is 23% of one year's spending. Only 4 of 47 similar towns had less, compared with what they spend.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$596Kowed in unpaid property tax, end of 2024
At the end of 2024, $596K of property tax had been billed but not paid. That is 27% of everything billed. Only 1 of 47 similar towns had a higher share. A year earlier it was $416K.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$3,770,220of long-term loans planned for 2025 capital spending of $12,037,600
A capital budget is the plan for big, one-time purchases such as buildings, trucks and roads. The 2025 capital budget adds up to $12,037,600. It plans to pay for it with $6,959,080 of grants, $3,770,220 of long-term loans and the rest from savings and fees. The biggest item is $5,582,700 for arena repairs and expansion, to be paid with $3,433,980 of federal grants and a $2,148,720 loan. The Township's total debt was $1,426,324 at the end of 2023, the last year whose statements we could read. Taxes brought in $2,224,151 in 2023. The plan is not a sign that the money has been borrowed: we could not read the 2024 statements, so we do not know what has been borrowed so far.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$1,413,180deficit in 2023, against a plan of nil
A deficit is what is left when a year's spending is more than its income. The 2023 plan in the audited statements expected a result of nil. The actual result was a deficit of $1,413,180. Expenses were $6,695,955 against a plan of $4,917,120. The Township says its budget leaves out amortization (the yearly wearing-out cost of buildings and equipment), which was $1,033,796 in 2023. Taking amortization out of the actual expenses leaves $5,662,159, which is still $745,039 above the plan (both worked out by us). Revenue was also higher than planned, at $5,282,775 against $4,917,120. In the budget book, the line for repairs to the grader (a road machine) was budgeted at 15,000 and came in at 84,720, and net public works cost 903,573 against a budget of 751,925.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$79,924legal costs in 2023, against a budget of $30,000
The budget book lists a line called Legal inside the administration costs. For 2023 the budget was 30,000 and the actual cost was 79,924. The 2024 budget stayed at 30,000 and the 2025 budget is 50,000. The audit line was 40,000 in the 2023 budget and 45,376 in actual cost. We did not find an explanation in the budget book.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$718,575owed for landfill closing and care at the end of 2023, against a landfill reserve of $109,386
A landfill is the town dump. When it is full it has to be capped and watched for years, and the Township has to set the cost aside in its books. The 2023 statements say the landfill was expected to reach capacity in 2 years, with 4,000 cubic metres, or 5%, of space left. The Township's estimated liability (what it owes for closing and watching the site) was $718,575. The total estimated cost, not discounted for the passage of time, was $1,098,385. The landfill reserve (money set aside for it) was $109,386. The 2025 capital summary shows $6,000 for the landfill.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
Qualifiedaudit opinion on the 2023 statements, dated September 18, 2024
A qualified opinion means the auditor says the statements are fair except for one named problem. For 2023 the auditor, BDO Canada LLP, said the statements present the Township's position fairly "except for the possible effects of the matter" it describes. The matter is that the Township had not finished checking its buildings and equipment for legal obligations to clean up or take them apart (an asset retirement obligation). The auditor says it is not possible to work out what that would change. The report is dated September 18, 2024. We found no Township explanation.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
($21,255)net financial assets (debt) at the end of 2023, from $797,939 a year earlier
Net financial assets are what a town has in cash and money owed to it, less what it owes. At the end of 2022 that was $797,939. At the end of 2023 it was a net debt of $21,255. The general surplus (the part of savings not set aside for anything) went from $841,610 to a deficit of $113,942. The Township's cash rose to $1,903,685, mainly because it collected money owed to it (accounts receivable fell from $4,528,466 to $1,278,046) and used it to close a $2,629,606 bank loan taken for the airport. It also has an operating credit line of $1,000,000 that was unused at the end of 2023.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
+61%running the town office, 2019 to 2024
Hornepayne spent $822K on running the town office in 2019 and $1.3M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time. Only 8 of 47 similar towns had faster growth here.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
On October 7, 2026 the Township's budget page listed the 2025 budget as the newest, and its council pay page listed 2024 as the newest year. We did not find a 2026 budget or a 2025 pay statement on those pages. The 2024 pay statement and the 2024 audited statements that are posted are scanned pages with no readable text, which makes them hard to search or copy.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
−$892Knet financial position, 2024
In 2019, Hornepayne had $355K more in cash and money owed to it than it owed to others. By 2024 it was −$892K. About 68% of that change ($846K) 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 8 of 47 similar towns are in a weaker position.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$539per home on garbage, dump and recycling, 2024
Hornepayne spent about $539 per home on garbage, dump and recycling in 2024. The typical similar town spent $260. Only 2 of 47 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
2024 tax year · Hornepayne, Ontario
Enter your home's assessed value to see roughly what you pay in property tax each year, who gets it, and what Hornepayne'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 Hornepayne.
a year in property tax, at 2024 rates
Hornepayne council sets only its own share. the Province sets the school rate.
An estimate. It uses the residential tax rate, and splits Hornepayne'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.
Local businesses can sponsor this page · How it works →
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 Hornepayne's council · Council Books is free and paid for by readers: support this work.