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 New Tecumseth, and 2025 for 13 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 New Tecumseth, budget documents

   Town of New Tecumseth · 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 New Tecumseth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 (BDO Canada LLP, July 13, 2026)

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

   Audited statements for 2025, 29 PDF pages. The statement of financial position (PDF page 6) is a scanned image and we did not use it. The statement of operations, cash flows, notes and schedules (PDF pages 7 to 29) have a readable text layer.

4. The Corporation of the Town of New Tecumseth, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024

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

   Audited statements for 2024, 30 PDF pages. Opened for comparison; the main statements are scanned images, so no figures from it are used.

5. The Mayor's Approved 2026 Budget (2026 Approved Budget Book)

   Town of New Tecumseth · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The 2026 business plan and budget, 189 PDF pages.

6. 2025 Town Budget and Business Plan (Approved)

   Town of New Tecumseth · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The 2025 budget book, 256 PDF pages. Used for the speed camera lines.

7. 2025 Long Range Financial Plan (presentation to Council, June 16, 2025)

   Town of New Tecumseth · retrieved 2026-10-05

   A 24-slide presentation of the Town's ten-year financial plan.

8. Report FIN-2025-18, Strong Mayor Budget Process (Council meeting, September 22, 2025)

   Town of New Tecumseth · retrieved 2026-10-05

   A six-page staff report on how the budget is made under the strong mayor rules.

9. Mayoral Direction MDI-2025-01, Direction to prepare the proposed budget (June 17, 2025)

   Mayor of the Town of New Tecumseth · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The Mayor's written direction to staff to prepare the 2026 budget.

10. Mayoral Decision MDE-2025-16 (October 29, 2025)

    Mayor of the Town of New Tecumseth · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The Mayor's written decision not to veto, and to shorten the veto period for, an amendment Council passed to the proposed budget.

11. Budget & Finances (web page)

    Town of New Tecumseth · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The page that links the budgets, statements, plans and cheque registers. Page text only.

12. 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 13 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.