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 2023 for Midland, and 2023 for 71 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. Town of Midland, budget documents

   Town of Midland · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

3. The Corporation of the Town of Midland, Consolidated Financial Statements, For the year ended December 31, 2023 (BDO Canada LLP, April 23, 2026)

   Town of Midland (auditor: BDO Canada LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2023, the latest posted. Clean opinion. 32 PDF pages.

4. The Corporation of the Town of Midland, Consolidated Financial Statements, 2022

   Town of Midland · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2022. Saved and opened; the 2023 statements restate its figures.

5. 2026 Draft Budget, Section One: Executive Summary

   Town of Midland · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The Town's summary of the 2026 budget, capital plan, debt and reserves.

6. 2026 Draft Budget, Section Two: Tax Supported Operating Budget

   Town of Midland · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Division budgets with 2024 actuals (unaudited), 2025 and 2026 figures and notes.

7. 2026 Draft Budget, Appendix Two: Reserve Summary

   Town of Midland · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Opening and ending balances for each reserve fund in 2026.

8. Ombudsman Report: Investigation into a special meeting held by the Town of Midland on March 5, 2025 (August 2026)

   Ombudsman of Ontario · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The Ombudsman's finding on a closed meeting about the Midland Bay Landing project.

9. Town will not proceed with Midland Bay Landing project (media release, June 5, 2026)

   Town of Midland · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The Town's own announcement that it will not award the Midland Bay Landing project.

10. Integrity Commissioner's Periodic Report, Town of Midland (Principles Integrity, March 13, 2025)

    Principles Integrity · retrieved 2026-10-05

    Activity count only: seven requests for advice and three complaints, all resolved without a report to council.

11. 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 2023 return, in 2023. This gives 71 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.