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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Kirkland Lake'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.
A clear, checkable guide to Kirkland Lake's budget, taxes and council decisions. A town in northeastern Ontario, in the District of Timiskaming, with a mayor and six councillors. It runs its own long-term care home, Teck Pioneer Residence. Every figure links back to the public record.
$13,789,687tax levy in 2025, up from $11,873,777 in 2023
The tax levy is the part of the Town's budget that property taxes must pay for, after grants, fees and savings are counted. The Town's own budget notices give a levy of $11,873,777 for 2023, $12,571,568 for 2024 and $13,789,687 for 2025. Each year's increase in the residential tax rate was bigger than the year before: 3.6%, then 5.85%, then 8.4%. By our own sums (worked out by us) the 2025 levy is $1,915,910 higher than the 2023 levy. The Town has explained the pressure in general terms: wages and contracts, insurance, inflation and the cost of its partners. We did not find a page that breaks the increase into those causes. The 2026 budget is kept on the Town's document site, which tells automated readers not to download from it, so we have not read it.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$596,793reduction the report states, against $472,993 between its own two levy figures (worked out by us)
Three published numbers do not line up, by our own sums (worked out by us). First, the Town's April 15, 2025 report says Council's changes cut the tax levy by "approximately $596,793", but the two levies it names, $14,262,680 and $13,789,687, are $472,993 apart. Second, the report says the levy increase fell from 10.3% to 6.5%, yet the 2025 levy of $13,789,687 is about 9.7% above the 2024 levy of $12,571,568. Third, the press release gives the net operating budget as $20,533,466, while the report and the budget pages print $20,533,446, a difference of $20. The last looks like a typing slip. The first two may have simple explanations that the Town has not published.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$2.9 millionreserves the 2025 budget uses, after $3.5 million in 2024 and $2.38 million in 2023
A reserve is money the Town has set aside in earlier years for later needs. The Town's budget notices say it used about $2.38 million of reserves in 2023, about $3.5 million in 2024 and about $2.9 million in 2025, to soften the tax rise. In both 2023 and 2025, the Town's report says that projections for the year's reserves "will be presented at a future meeting". We did not find those projections or the reserve balances. The audited statements, which would show them, are on the Town's document site, which tells automated readers not to download from it, so we could not read them. By our own sums (worked out by us), the two 2025 budget lines that mention reserves add to $2,939,827, close to the "approximately $2.9 million" (one of them also counts debt and deferred revenue).
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$2,063,627net cost of the care home in the 2025 budget, up from $1,769,232
Teck Pioneer Residence is the long-term care home the Town runs. The 2025 budget shows its total revenue as $8,598,093, exactly the same as the 2024 figure. Its spending rises from $10,367,325 to $10,661,720. The gap that taxes must cover grows from $1,769,232 to $2,063,627, which is $294,395 more (worked out by us). We did not find a note in the budget explaining why revenue was left unchanged.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$618,137net cost of Development Services in the 2025 budget, against $371,711 in 2024
Development Services covers animal control, building, economic development, planning and residential development. Its net cost to taxpayers in the 2025 budget is $618,137, against $371,711 in the 2024 budget, which is $246,426 more (worked out by us). Two pages explain most of it. Building brings in $242,415 against $360,915 and runs a gap of $236,925 against $91,335. Residential Development brings in $50,000 against $270,000, leaving $47,200 against $269,700. The budget pages carry no notes, so we did not find the town's reason.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
In 2024, Kirkland Lake collected $1.5M more in its own property tax than in 2023. That is a 12% jump, while prices went up about 2.4%. Only 1 of 14 similar towns raised theirs by more. Almost all of it came from a higher tax rate (up 4% for homes); the value of homes on the tax roll grew only 0.6%.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 4 sources
At the end of 2024, $4.0M of property tax had been billed but not paid. That is 26% of everything billed. None of the 14 similar towns had a higher share. A year earlier it was $2.9M.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$365,059Treasury net cost in the 2025 budget, against $195,524 in 2024
The Treasury department handles taxes, billing and the Town's accounts. In the 2025 budget its revenue is $688,000 against $823,000 in 2024, and its spending is $1,053,059 against $1,018,524. Its net cost therefore rises from $195,524 to $365,059, which is $169,535 more (worked out by us). Most of that comes from $135,000 less revenue (worked out by us). We did not find a note saying what that revenue is or why it falls.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
Reprimand recommendedby the Integrity Commissioner in the inquiry that ended January 15, 2021
The Town posts three older Integrity Commissioner reports. One, dated after an investigation from December 30, 2020 to January 15, 2021, found that then-Mayor Pat Kiely, now Councillor Kiely, broke section 10.1 of the Code of Conduct by passing a confidential report to two staff members. Under section 10.5 the report found that the confidential report "was accessed when there was no necessity to access the report"; it states the breach under section 10.1 only. The Integrity Commissioner recommended that Council reprimand him and ask him to apologize to Council and to the staff whose confidentiality was affected. We did not find whether Council adopted the recommendations, because its minutes are on the Town's document site, which tells automated readers not to download from it. We have not described the subject of the confidential report.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
2024 tax year · Kirkland Lake, Ontario
Your tax bill, worked out.
Enter your home's assessed value to see roughly what you pay in property tax each year, who gets it, and what Kirkland Lake'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 Kirkland Lake.
An estimate. It uses the residential tax rate, and splits Kirkland Lake'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.
How Kirkland Lake's share of the bill compares with similar towns
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