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Not the full picture. Built from public records, which leave things out.Read by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date. Check the sources, and tell us if you spot a mistake. What this site can't tell you
Read by hand. We read Huntsville's own documents for this site in October 2026; the Sources page lists which ones. The comparisons with other places still come from the Province's yearly reports.

Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Huntsville is run by an elected council of 9 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the town day to day.

Current council

Names and official email addresses from the town's council page. None of the members lists a public social media account there.

How open is Huntsville?

What a resident can find online without asking, as of October 5, 2026.

  • Yes
    Budgets posted online

    The 2025-2026 budget report, the 2026 Mayor's budget, 2026 capital budget and earlier budgets back to 2018 are posted as PDFs. The 2026 Mayor's budget was introduced and deemed adopted on November 13, 2025. Source

  • Partly
    Audited financial statements

    Statements for 2020 to 2024 are posted. The 2024 statements carry a clean opinion ("present fairly") from Pahapill and Associates dated September 22, 2025. On October 5, 2026 the page did not list audited statements for 2025. The Town's Q1 2026 report says the audit fee is higher because of a change in external auditor. Source

  • Partly
    Quarterly and year-end financial reports

    Year-end 2024 and the 2026 Q1 report are posted on the Town's own site. The 2025 year-end and 2025 Q2 and Q3 reports are linked on the Town's CivicWeb meeting site, whose robots.txt disallows automated downloads, so we did not read them. Source

  • Unknown
    Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

    The Town points to online expense dashboards for the 2022 to 2026 and 2019 to 2022 terms. They are interactive pages, not documents we could read, so we left council pay out of the pack. Source

  • Unknown
    Meeting agendas and minutes

    Agendas and minutes are on the Town's events site and its CivicWeb portal. CivicWeb's robots.txt disallows automated downloads, so we read no minutes: no conflict declarations or closed session counts. Source

  • Yes
    Meeting video

    The Town says council and committee meetings are live streamed, with a link to its YouTube streams page. Source

Where the town speaks for itself

Huntsville's official channels, as linked from its own website. Council members may also post on their own pages; we link only to official municipal channels.

Ask for the records

Anyone can ask the town for its records under Ontario's Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). You do not have to say why. Here is how it works, and the wording for the records that would answer the questions on this site.

  1. Send the request in writing to the town clerk (the freedom of information coordinator), on the town’s form or in a letter, with the $5 application fee.
  2. Describe the records, not the answer you want. Dates, departments and the kind of record (a list, invoices, emails) make a request quicker and cheaper.
  3. The town has 45 business days to answer (the law changed in 2026; older guides say 30 days). It can charge for search time and copies, but must send an estimate first if the fees will be over $25.
  4. Some parts can be held back, such as legal advice or personal information about other people. The town must say which part of the law it relied on.
  5. If you are refused, or the fees seem too high, you can appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner within 30 business days of the town’s decision.

The town's request form (on its Forms page) · The law · Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

  • Reserve balances at December 31, 2025 and the policy for negative reserves

    The Q1 2026 report shows fleet, IT and building reserves forecast below zero. The balances at the end of 2025 and the rule that applies would show how long they have been negative. Related question: Why are Huntsville's fleet, IT and building reserves forecast to end 2026 below zero?.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the Town's reserve and reserve fund balances at December 31, 2025, the Financial Reserves Policy (Budget&Financial-27) as currently in force, and any report to Council or committee since January 1, 2025 about reserves with a negative balance.

  • Fire services agreement with the Township of Lake of Bays

    The Q1 2026 report refers to the conclusion of the Fire Services Agreement. The agreement and the report that ended it would show the revenue the Town counted on and what replaces it. Related question: How will Huntsville replace the fire-service money from Lake of Bays that its two-year budget counted on?.

    Show the request wordingHide the wording
    Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the shared fire services agreement between the Town of Huntsville and the Township of Lake of Bays, any amendment or notice ending it, and any report to Council about its conclusion and its effect on the Town's budget.

The wording is a starting point, not legal advice. Narrow the dates if the town says a request is too broad or too costly.

How to raise a concern

From the gentlest step to the most serious. Start at the top.

  1. Integrity Commissioner

    The Town's page says Council extended the Integrity Commissioner's contract for four more years (2025 to 2029) on January 27, 2025. The one periodic report we found covers January 2023 to July 2024 and is dated August 7, 2024. We did not use it as the basis for a finding.

  2. Closed meeting investigator: Ontario Ombudsman

    The Town says it has appointed the Ontario Ombudsman as its closed meeting investigator. We did not look for Ombudsman reports about Huntsville.

  3. Conflict of interest registry

    The Town says the clerk updates the registry after each council or committee meeting, with lists for the 2022 to 2026 term and the 2018 to 2022 term. We did not read the lists.