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 Loyalist, and 2025 for 36 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 Loyalist, council remuneration and expense statements

   Township of Loyalist · retrieved 2026-10-01

   What each council member was paid, and spent on benefits and expenses, 2024 to 2025. One statement a year; the link is the latest, and the council page links each year.

3. Township of Loyalist, budget documents

   Township of Loyalist · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

4. 2025 Audited Financial Statements (draft attached to staff report SR-3205)

   Loyalist Township and Baker Tilly KDN LLP · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Statements approved by council on June 23, 2026, with the auditor's report of the same date. Used for net debt, long-term debt, taxes receivable and the staff explanation.

5. 2024 year-end statements and net surplus (staff report SR-3012)

   Loyalist Township and Baker Tilly KDN LLP · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Draft 2024 statements dated October 10, 2025, approved on October 14, 2025. Used for dates only.

6. 2023 Financial Statements

   Loyalist Township and KPMG LLP · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Auditor's report dated November 6, 2024. Used for the terms of the $19,000,000 provincial loan and the allowance for uncollectible taxes.

7. 2022 Financial Statements

   Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Used for the $22,631,000 spent on industrial land in 2022 (note 13).

8. WJ Henderson Community Centre Renewal, Business Case Update

   Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Report to council of March 24, 2026 comparing the November 2023 plan with the latest cost and funding estimate.

9. 2026 Draft Operating & Capital Budgets

   Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The 2026 budget binder, as presented to council in November 2025. Used for debt, the ferry and winter control.

10. 2026 Property Tax Insert

    Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

    The two-page flyer sent with 2026 tax bills.

11. Tax Sale and Collections Update (SR-3154)

    Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Staff report to council of April 14, 2026 on how the Township collects overdue taxes.

12. Updated Agreement for the Construction and Maintenance of County Roads and Bridges (SR-3245)

    Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Staff report to council of August 11, 2026, with the County agreement. Used for the Township's work on County roads.

13. 2026 Q2 Financial Report (SR-3261)

    Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Budget against actual to June 30, 2026. Used for winter control. It says the general rate operating budget ended the second quarter with a surplus of $934,571.

14. MTO Ferry Subsidy Petitions for 2024 and 2025

    Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Staff reports to council with the Township's declared ferry operating costs. The 2024 petition is at https://loyalist.civicweb.net/FileStorage/A266E9610C4B4A5CB6D4244A2C4BA74B-2024%20MTO%20Ferry%20Subsidy%20Petition.pdf.

15. Council and Committee Remuneration and Expenses, 2025 and 2024

    Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

    The yearly statements under the Municipal Act, s. 284. The 2024 statement is at https://loyalist.civicweb.net/FileStorage/9AF4390A97674769A88744D357F51DE4-Council%20_%20Committee%20Remuneration%20_%20Expenses%20for.pdf.

16. 2025 Operating Surplus Allocation (SR-3200)

    Loyalist Township · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Staff report to council of May 26, 2026: the general rate ended 2025 with an operating surplus of $805,038 and the utilities with $1,002,816.

17. Ombudsman report: closed meeting held by Loyalist Township on July 8, 2019

    Ombudsman of Ontario · retrieved 2026-10-01

    September 2020 report on a closed meeting about a wind project.

18. 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 2025 return, in 2025. This gives 36 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.