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 Lake of Bays, and 2024 for 51 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 Lake of Bays, budget documents

   Township of Lake of Bays · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

3. Township of Lake of Bays Approves 2026 Budget and Business Plan (media release, December 9, 2025)

   Township of Lake of Bays · retrieved 2026-10-14

   The Township's announcement of the adopted 2026 budget: 4.27 percent tax rate increase, $28.83 a year on a $300,000 home.

4. Media Release: Draft 2026 Budget and Business Plan to be reviewed at November 11 Council meeting (October 30, 2025)

   Township of Lake of Bays · retrieved 2026-10-14

   The draft 2026 budget announcement: 5.56% tax levy increase.

5. 2026 Approved Budget at a Glance (infographic image on the Township's engagement site)

   Township of Lake of Bays · retrieved 2026-10-14

   One image: total budget, tax rate increase, capital projects and the share of municipal tax dollars by service. Read by eye; see the research notes.

6. Media Release: Township of Lake of Bays Council Approves 2023 Municipal Budget (March 14, 2023)

   Township of Lake of Bays · retrieved 2026-10-14

   The 2023 budget announcement: 6 per cent levy increase, net levy, ten-year average.

7. Media Release: Township of Lake of Bays Approves Final 2024 Municipal Budget (February 14, 2024)

   Township of Lake of Bays · retrieved 2026-10-14

   The 2024 budget announcement: 9.06% tax rate increase.

8. Lake of Bays Council Approves Municipal Accommodation Tax to Boost Tourism (media release, October 14, 2025)

   Township of Lake of Bays · retrieved 2026-10-14

   The new 4% accommodation tax from January 1, 2026 and how its revenue is shared.

9. Budget and Finance page (Township of Lake of Bays website)

   Township of Lake of Bays · retrieved 2026-10-14

   Lists budgets and audited statements. Almost every link goes to lakeofbays.civicweb.net, which we could not read.

10. 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 lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 51 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.