Questions · 8 so far
We read Madoc's financial reports and meeting minutes, and compared its numbers with 29 similar Ontario towns. These are the things that stood out.
These are unusual enough that residents deserve a clear answer from council.
$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
There may well be a good reason. It is still worth asking what it is.
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
Background that helps make sense of the rest.
$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
$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.
| Year | Unpaid property tax at year end |
|---|---|
| 2019 | $492K |
| 2020 | $597K |
| 2021 | $799K |
| 2022 | $774K |
When taxes go unpaid, everyone else carries the cost, and the town may borrow to cover the gap. The Province's financial indicators treat 10% to 15% as a moderate risk and more than 15% as a high risk. Collection is the town's job, so a rising number is worth asking about.
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Madoc? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Taxes receivable: 2019 $492K, 2020 $597K, 2021 $799K, 2022 $774K. Of the 2022 total, $313K was from earlier years.
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2019 to 2022 · Schedule 70, lines 0610 to 0699 · archived copy
Typical among similar towns: 8.2% of taxes billed.
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2022, 29 similar municipalities · Schedules 26 and 70 · archived copy
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".
Audited statements are the check that a township's own reports are right. Without them for three years, residents cannot see whether reserves are being kept up, and the Province can hold back money (see the next question). Both audit reports we read give a clean opinion, so this is about timing, not about a problem the auditor found.
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Madoc? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Independent auditor's report on the December 31, 2021 statements: opinion "present fairly, in all material respects"; signed Baker Tilly KDN LLP, Peterborough, Ontario, "March 1, 2024".
Financial Statements, December 31, 2021 · Independent Auditor's Report, PDF page 5
Independent auditor's report on the December 31, 2022 statements: opinion "present fairly, in all material respects"; signed Baker Tilly KDN LLP, Peterborough, Ontario, "June 5, 2024".
Financial Statements, December 31, 2022 · Independent Auditor's Report, PDF page 5
Item 10, Presentations - Baker Tilly: Motion # 164-26: "That council accept the 2023 Audited Financial Statements presented by Baker Tilly for the Township of Madoc." CARRIED.
Council minutes, July 8, 2026 · Item 10, PDF page 3
"The Township acknowledges that there is a backlog of financial reporting that must be addressed." "The Township continues to work with its external auditors, Baker Tilly KDN LLP, as part of this process." "This is not a situation that will be resolved overnight." Dated September 10, 2026.
Media release: Madoc Township Council Addresses Financial Reporting Concerns · page 1
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.
A grant that is on hold has to be replaced from somewhere if bills come due before it arrives. Residents should know whether the Township is using its reserves, delaying work, or borrowing while it waits.
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Madoc? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
"The OMPF funding is currently on holdback, pending submission of the FIR's (Financial Information Returns). Upon submission of the FIR's, the money will be released. It is not frozen." "The Township has received and continues to receive other provincial funding streams."
Media release: Madoc Township Council Addresses Financial Reporting Concerns · page 1, statement attributed to Mayor Blackburn
Statement of financial position, December 31, 2022: cash (note 4) 850,806 (2021: 1,348,056).
Financial Statements, December 31, 2022 · Statement of Financial Position, PDF page 6
Note 16, Credit facility agreement: "The amount available at any time is limited to $250,000 via an operating loan." "At December 31, 2022 there was no balance outstanding."
Financial Statements, December 31, 2022 · Note 16, PDF page 19
$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.
Auditors usually bill when they do the work. If 2025 passed with nothing spent on audit while 2023, 2024 and 2025 were all outstanding, residents may want to know when the work will be done and whether one year's cost will land in a later year.
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Madoc? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Admin: Audit Expenses: "In 2025 we did not use any funds associated with that expense so the following will be done to ensure we are not charging the tax payer double for the same task"; "All $50,000 will move to working reserves at end of 2025"; "The remaining $30,000 will stay in working reserves and be brought to the audit line in 2027".
2026 Budget Notes · Admin section, PDF page 9
Administration budget, line 812-3452: "Audit (moved to working reserves as not used)" 50,000.00 (2025 Budget column) and 70,000.00 (2026 Proposed Budget column). Page header: "Preliminary #3 - Mar 19, 2026".
Madoc Township 2026 Budget (Preliminary #3 - Mar 19, 2026) · Administration Budget, expenses, PDF page 3; heading on PDF page 1
The Township "has set the amount to be raised by the Township's general local levy against all taxable property at $2,754,472."
By-Law 1800-2026 (estimates and tax levy) · operative clause 2 of the by-law (Word file)
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%.
Every tax bill is built from this rate. If the two documents differ, residents cannot tell from the Township's own pages which rate was actually billed, or what the real increase was.
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Madoc? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Schedule A, 2026 property tax rates: row RT, Residential, Full, tax ratio 1.000000, Township rate 0.01185866, County rate 0.00371008, Provincial education rate 0.00153000.
Schedule A to By-Law 1800-2026 · table row RT (Word file)
Schedule B, year-over-year compare, row RT: Local prior year 0.01109663, current year 0.01158821, difference 4.43%; County 0.00352337 to 0.00371008; Education 0.00153000 to 0.00153000; Total 0.01615000 to 0.01682829.
Schedule B to By-Law 1800-2026 · page 1, row RT
$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.
A large bill to another government at year end is worth understanding, because it takes cash that the Township would otherwise have. It is worth asking whether it was paid on time and whether it recurred in later years, which have no audited statements yet.
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Madoc? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Note 6, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, 2022 (2021): Government of Ontario 54,681 (80,672); trade payables and accruals 197,243 (628,146); prepaid property taxes 63,973 (50,916); due to cemetery trust 51,212 (51,212); due to County 544,417 (12,984); source deductions 19,207 (14,125); total 930,733 (853,460).
Financial Statements, December 31, 2022 · Note 6, PDF page 13
Statement of financial position, financial assets: "Cash (note 4)" 850,806 (2021 1,348,056).
Township of Madoc, Municipal Financial Statements, December 31, 2022 · Statement of Financial Position, PDF page 6
$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.
A line that runs nine times over plan is easy to explain if it was a single item, and worth a plain explanation if not. We found no management explanation in the posted file.
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Madoc? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Note 13, expenses by object, budget 2022 (unaudited) / actual 2022 / actual 2021: rents and financial 7,900 / 69,009 / 4,862.
Financial Statements, December 31, 2022 · Note 13, PDF page 18
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.
Closed meetings are lawful for these topics, and they come up often in a year with changes in senior staff. Residents can still ask whether council reports back what it decided, and whether legal costs are rising.
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Madoc? Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
News & Notices lists "July 29, 2026 Closed Session Meeting Agenda" and "August 20, 2026 Closed Session Agenda".
News & Notices, Township of Madoc · list of notices, read October 7, 2026
August 5, 2026 minutes: council moved into closed session at 5:32pm under section 239 (2) (f), advice subject to solicitor-client privilege, and out at 6:33pm; then received "the confidential verbal report" regarding litigation or potential litigation.
Regular Council agenda package, October 7, 2026 · attached August 5, 2026 minutes, PDF pages 25 to 26
Item 9, Closed Session in accordance with Section 239 (2) of the Municipal Act, 2001: "(b) (f)", solicitor-client advice and personal matters about an identifiable individual, including employees.
Regular Council agenda, September 2, 2026 · Item 9, PDF page 2
Item 5, Closed Session, Section 239 (2) (b) and (d), staffing matters and labour relations.
Special Council agenda, September 24, 2026 · Item 5, PDF page 1
Administration budget: "Legal" 30,000.00 (2025 Budget column) and 40,000.00 (2026 Proposed Budget column). Page header: "Preliminary #3 - Mar 19, 2026".
Madoc Township 2026 Budget (Preliminary #3 - Mar 19, 2026) · Administration Budget, line 812-3453, PDF page 3