Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to Madoc's budget, taxes and council decisions. A rural township in Hastings County, Ontario, with a mayor and four councillors. Every figure links back to the public record.
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Questions worth asking
Each one is a question, not an accusation. Every one lists ordinary reasons it could be true, and the documents it comes from.
$774Kowed in unpaid property tax, end of 2022
At the end of 2022, $774K of property tax had been billed but not paid. That is 25% of everything billed. None of the 29 similar towns had a higher share. A year earlier it was $799K.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
June 5, 2024date of the auditor's report on the 2022 statements, the newest audited year posted on the Township's site
Every Ontario township has its books audited each year by an outside accountant, and the result (the audited financial statements) is how residents see what the Township owns and owes. The newest statements the Township posts are for 2022, and the auditor signed that report on June 5, 2024, about a year and a half after the year ended. The 2021 report was signed on March 1, 2024, more than two years after its year ended. Council's minutes of July 8, 2026 record that it accepted the 2023 statements. We did not find them posted, and we did not find 2024 or 2025. On September 10, 2026 the Township said that there is a backlog of financial reporting, that it is working with its auditors, and that it is "not a situation that will be resolved overnight".
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
On holdbackthe provincial OMPF grant, until the overdue Financial Information Returns are filed (mayor's statement, September 10, 2026)
The Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) is a yearly provincial grant that helps smaller municipalities pay for services. The mayor's statement, quoted in the Township's September 10, 2026 release, says the OMPF money "is currently on holdback, pending submission of the FIR's (Financial Information Returns)" and that it "is not frozen". A Financial Information Return is the yearly report every Ontario municipality sends the Province, built from its audited statements. The Township does not say how much is held back, for which years, or when it expects to file. The last audited year, 2022, ended with cash of $850,806, down from $1,348,056, and with a bank line of credit of up to $250,000 that was not being used.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$50,000budgeted for audit in 2025 and not used, moved to working reserves
The 2026 budget notes say that in 2025 the Township "did not use any funds associated with" the audit line, so the $50,000 budgeted for audit moved to working reserves at the end of 2025. The notes give the reason for moving it: to avoid "charging the tax payer double for the same task". The notes say part of it moves back to the 2026 audit line and the rest stays in reserve for 2027. The 2026 budget line reads "Audit (moved to working reserves as not used)" with $50,000 in the 2025 column and $70,000 in the 2026 column. The 2026 budget file we read is headed "Preliminary #3 - Mar 19, 2026"; the by-law adopting the 2026 estimates sets a levy of $2,754,472, and the pages we read do not say whether this line changed afterwards.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
0.01185866 vs 0.011588212026 Township residential rate in Schedule A and in Schedule B of the same by-law
Property taxes are the Township's rate multiplied by a property's assessed value. Two documents posted with By-Law 1800-2026 give two different 2026 Township rates for residential property. Schedule A, the rates the by-law levies, prints 0.01185866. Schedule B, a one-page comparison with last year, prints 0.01158821 as the 2026 local rate, with a year-over-year change of 4.43%. The County and school rates match in both (0.00371008 and 0.00153000). Added to those, the Township rate in Schedule A gives a total residential rate of 0.01709874, and in Schedule B 0.01682829 (worked out by us). Last year's local rate in Schedule B is 0.01109663. Measured from that, the Schedule A rate is 6.87% higher (worked out by us), not 4.43%.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$544,417owed to the County at December 31, 2022 (2021: $12,984)
The Township collects property tax for the County of Hastings and for the school boards, and passes it on. In the audited 2022 statements, "Due to County" is one of the amounts the Township owed at December 31, 2022: $544,417, against $12,984 at the end of 2021. The Township's cash at the same date was $850,806. The statements do not explain the jump.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$69,009"Rents and financial" in 2022, against a budget of $7,900
The audited 2022 statements break spending down by type. One type is called "Rents and financial". Its budget for 2022 was $7,900, the actual cost was $69,009, and the year before it was $4,862. The statements do not say what it contained. Amortization, the yearly accounting cost of assets wearing out, is shown on its own line in the same table, so this gap is not that.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
6 closed sessionslisted or held between July 29 and October 7, 2026 (counted by us from the documents cited)
A council may meet in private only for reasons the Municipal Act lists, such as legal advice or staffing. The Township's news page lists closed-session agendas for July 29 and August 20, 2026. Council also went into closed session on August 5, 2026, for legal advice, and the agendas for September 2, September 24 and October 7, 2026 each list a closed session, for legal advice or staffing matters. On August 5, council received a "confidential verbal report" about litigation or potential litigation in public. The 2026 budget draft shows a legal line of $30,000 for 2025 and $40,000 for 2026. We did not read the closed-session content and the Township posts none.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
2022 tax year · Madoc, Ontario
Enter your home's assessed value to see roughly what you pay in property tax each year, who gets it, and what Madoc'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 Madoc.
a year in property tax, at 2022 rates
Madoc council sets only its own share. County or region sets its share, the Province sets the school rate.
An estimate. It uses the residential tax rate, and splits Madoc's share by what each service cost in 2022 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.
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Each number links to the public document it came from. Check it yourself.
We ask questions. Every one lists ordinary reasons a number could look odd.
Towns are only compared with places of a similar size and kind, from the same yearly reports.
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