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 2025 for Laird, and 2025 for 30 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 Laird, council remuneration and expense statements

   Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

   What each council member was paid, and spent on benefits and expenses, 2025 to 2025. One statement a year; the link is the latest, and the council page links each year.

3. Township of Laird, budget documents

   Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

4. The Corporation of the Township of Laird, Financial Statements, year ended December 31, 2025

   Township of Laird (auditors: Stefanizzi Professional Corporation, report dated April 18, 2026) · retrieved 2026-10-07

   Audited statements for 2025 with 2024 comparatives. Clean opinion. Read from the text layer.

5. Township of Laird, 2026 General Budget (Passed Motion #96-26, April 16, 2026)

   Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

   The adopted 2026 budget, with 2025 budget and 2025 cost columns. 11 PDF pages.

6. Council agenda, June 18, 2026 (Agenda 59)

   Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

   Includes a budget report with a note on the fire agreement and the fairgrounds sewage engineering proposal.

7. Council agenda, July 16, 2026 (Agenda 61)

   Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

   Includes the budget variance report to July 14, 2026.

8. Council agenda, March 19, 2026 (Agenda 53)

   Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

   Includes staff reports on 2025 investments and on tax collection.

9. Council agenda, January 15, 2026 (Agenda 51)

   Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

   Includes the 2025 Statement of Remuneration and Expenses (s. 284).

10. Council minutes, April 16, 2026

    Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

    Audit presentation, tax collection update and adoption of the 2026 budget.

11. Council minutes, May 21, 2026

    Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

    Closed session report on the fire services agreement.

12. Council minutes, June 18, 2026

    Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

    Fairgrounds sewage system engineering approvals.

13. Council minutes, January 15, 2026

    Township of Laird · retrieved 2026-10-07

    Council direction on the 2026 to 2030 road plan.

14. 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 2025 return, in 2025. This gives 30 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.