Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to Moosonee's budget, taxes and council decisions. A town on the Moose River in northern Ontario, with a mayor and four councillors, and an airport that serves the James Bay coast. Every figure links back to the public record.
Follow Moosonee in one tapWhere it goes
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.
$643Kowed in unpaid property tax, end of 2023
At the end of 2023, $643K of property tax had been billed but not paid. That is 30% of everything billed. Only 2 of 26 similar towns had a higher share. A year earlier it was $713K.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$580per home on council, 2023
Moosonee spent about $580 per home on council in 2023. The typical similar town spent $76. Only 1 of 26 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
July 28, 2026date of the auditor's report on the year that ended December 31, 2024
Audited statements are the Town's yearly accounts, checked by an outside accountant. The Town's 2024 statements, for the year that ended December 31, 2024, carry an auditor's report dated July 28, 2026, and a senior staff member signed the management letter the same day. That is about nineteen months after the year ended. The Town's financial reporting page lists no later statements, and its Operating Budget heading is empty.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
July 31, 2024the date the statements say council approved the 2024 operating and capital budgets
A budget is the plan for the year's spending and income. The audited statements say the 2024 budget they show was approved by council on July 31, 2024. By then the Town had been spending for seven months. The same note shows that the budget council approved was a balanced one, with a surplus of nil.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$744,419airport deficit in 2024, against a surplus of $498,136 in 2023
The Town runs the Moosonee Airport, which the statements say serves Moosonee and the James Bay coast. The statements split the Town's results by service. In 2023 the airport showed revenue of $2,207,943 against costs of $1,709,807, a surplus of $498,136. In 2024 its revenue was $1,175,662 against costs of $1,920,081, a deficit of $744,419. Its fees and user charges fell from $1,717,423 to $1,159,867, and a $376,000 federal grant in 2023 does not appear in 2024. Over the same year the "airport improvement fee" held as deferred revenue (money received and kept to be counted as revenue later) grew from $355,016 to $712,776.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$1,062,445set aside because the Town does not expect to collect it, on past-due taxes of $877,392
Taxes receivable are property taxes billed but not yet paid. The Town's note shows $667,086 of current taxes, $877,392 past due, and $319,352 of penalties and interest, a total of $1,863,830 (worked out by us). The Town has set aside an allowance (money it expects it will never collect) of $1,062,445, which leaves $801,385 on the books. The past-due amount grew from $816,097 and the allowance from $1,008,382 the year before. Tax revenue for the year was $2,416,444.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$2,784,743environmental services expenses in 2024, against a budget of $2,591,231
Environmental services is the Town's water and wastewater system, landfill and waste collection. It cost $2,784,743 in 2024, against a budget of $2,591,231 and an actual of $2,230,211 in 2023. That is the largest single service in the statements. In the Town's own breakdown the service earned $1,815,501 and finished with a deficit of $969,242.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$87,459surplus in 2024, against a budgeted deficit of $1,912,090
The 2024 budget in the statements planned a deficit of $1,912,090. The actual result was a surplus of $87,459. Revenue came in at $8,681,122 against a budget of $6,980,187. Ontario grants were $2,398,911 against $1,707,661, and Canada grants were $383,476 against nothing budgeted. Spending was $8,593,663 against a budget of $8,892,277. The budget also assumed $2,000,000 of new borrowing and $500,000 taken from reserves. The statements show long-term debt fell, from $1,109,599 to $877,387.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$247,382 vs $2,473,000the same 2024 budget item, printed two ways in the audited statements
Capital assets are things the Town buys that last for years: buildings, vehicles, runways. The statement of change in net financial assets shows a 2024 budget of $247,382 for acquiring them. Note 13 shows $2,473,000 for "purchases of capital asset". Each statement adds up on its own, so one of the two numbers may be a typing error, or they may mean different things. Actual purchases were $1,539,647.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$2,098,344deferred revenue at the end of 2024, up from $1,471,498
At the end of 2024 the Town held $8,079,049 in cash. Against that, $2,098,344 was deferred revenue (money received for a specific purpose, counted as income only when spent) and $566,061 was federal gas tax money that must be used on approved projects. The largest piece of deferred revenue was $1,022,723 from OCIF (a provincial infrastructure fund), up from $831,723. Deferred revenue grew by $626,846 (the same figure the cash flow statement shows) while actual spending on capital assets was $1,539,647, below the $3,403,650 of 2023.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$618per home on garbage, dump and recycling, 2023
Moosonee spent about $618 per home on garbage, dump and recycling in 2023. The typical similar town spent $354. Only 3 of 26 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
2023 tax year · Moosonee, Ontario
Enter your home's assessed value to see roughly what you pay in property tax each year, who gets it, and what Moosonee'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 Moosonee.
a year in property tax, at 2023 rates
Moosonee council sets only its own share. the Province sets the school rate.
An estimate. It uses the residential tax rate, and splits Moosonee's share by what each service cost in 2023 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.
Local businesses can sponsor this page · How it works →
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.
Council meetings are open to the public, and councillors answer to you. How to reach Moosonee's council · Council Books is free and paid for by readers: support this work.