$15,371,335development charge deficit at December 31, 2025, shown as nil in the audited statements
Development charges are fees the Town collects on new buildings to pay for the roads, parks and other things growth needs. The Town keeps them in a reserve fund (savings set aside for one purpose). The Town's own year-end statement says the fund started 2025 with $10,024,112, took in $5,868,406 in fees, was charged interest of $845,468 and paid out $30,418,385 for projects, which left a deficit of $15,371,335. In the audited statements the balance is shown as nil, because accounting rules do not allow a negative balance, and the deficit is tracked inside the Town. The Town has explained why: it built growth projects before the fees arrived, most of the money went to Mulock Park, and fewer buildings are going up. It says it is looking at outside financing or putting some projects off, and that it is updating its Fiscal Strategy (its long-term money plan).
$26,736,610spent on Mulock Park design and construction in 2025, of which $20,246,610 came from development charges
The Town names Mulock Park as the main reason cash fell in 2025, as the reason it owes more to contractors, and as the main use of development charge money. The Town's development charge statement shows $26,736,610 spent in 2025 on "Mulock Park Design and Construction": $20,246,610 from development charges and $6,490,000 from other sources. The documents we could read do not give the park's total cost or its approved budget. The 2026 budget book is on the Town's meeting portal, which refused a scripted download, so we could not read it.
$185,200,000approximate value of major-project purchase commitments at December 31, 2025 (2024: $117,100,000)
The Town's notes say it had signed contracts for major construction and repair projects worth approximately $185,200,000 at the end of 2025, up from $117,100,000 a year earlier. In the same year, its cash fell from $98,363,548 to $69,708,838. The part of cash that is not set aside for anything ("unrestricted and undesignated") fell from $52,996,030 to $28,336,037, which is a fall of about 46% (worked out by us). The Town's capital fund balance went from negative $4,304,336 to negative $21,399,157. The Town's own answer is that it holds large reserve funds and investments, can borrow within a limit it has set itself, and is updating its Fiscal Strategy.
$27,956,805spent on transportation services in 2025, against a budget of $16,633,509
In the audited statements, transportation services (roads, snow clearing, operations and capital project engineering) cost $27,956,805 in 2025 against a budget of $16,633,509. In 2024 the budget was $16,250,851 and the actual was $19,565,616. The statements say the budget shown has been rearranged to fit accounting rules and "may not be comparable" with actual amounts, because capital project budgets run over several years, so some of the gap is accounting. The Town's discussion names higher winter salt and sand costs and sidewalk repair work as reasons costs rose across the Town. It does not say how much of the transportation gap each explains.