Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to Niagara-on-the-Lake's budget, taxes and council decisions. A town of about 19,000 people at the mouth of the Niagara River in Niagara Region, with a Lord Mayor and eight councillors and no wards. Every figure links back to the public record.
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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.
$332per home on council, 2025
Niagara-on-the-Lake spent about $332 per home on council in 2025. The typical similar town spent $50. Only 2 of 34 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
$4,459,468surplus in 2025, against a budget of $454,576 (worked out by us: about ten times)
A surplus is what is left when a year's revenue is more than its spending. The 2025 budget in the audited statements planned a surplus of $454,576. The statements show $4,459,468. For 2024 the budget planned a deficit of $947,609 and the statements show a surplus of $11,601,215. Most of the gap in both years is on the revenue side: total 2025 revenue was $53,432,353 against a budget of $49,468,023, and spending came in almost exactly on budget ($48,972,885 against $49,013,447). In 2024 the biggest single piece was $8,063,589 of income from the Town's own electricity company, Niagara-on-the-Lake Energy Inc., which the budget did not plan for. The Town's notes explain part of that: the company sold shares in a broadband business and the Town received $3,000,000.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$9,991,446operating fund deficit at the end of 2025 (about $4.2 million at the end of 2023)
The note on the accumulated surplus (the Town's total net worth) splits it into parts. One part is the "operating fund", the money used for everyday running costs. It was (4,230,105) at the end of 2023, (8,055,735) at the end of 2024 as first reported, and (9,991,446) at the end of 2025. Over the same period the Town reported annual surpluses every year and cash rose to $51,662,994. The 2025 statements also show the 2024 operating fund as (7,387,936), not the (8,055,735) printed a year earlier, and reserves of 28,163,407 instead of 28,831,205. The Town's annual report says it manages day-to-day finances on a cash basis using fund accounting, but we did not find an explanation of the operating fund balance.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$7,602,851general government spending in 2025, against $4,017,202 in 2022
General government is the part of the Town that runs the Town itself: Council, the clerk, the CAO, finance, legal, human resources and IT. The statements show it cost $4,017,202 in 2022 and $7,602,851 in 2025 (up about 89%, worked out by us). In 2024 it was $7,569,648 against a budget of $5,682,060, and in 2025 $7,602,851 against $6,435,836. The Town's statistical review shows full-time positions rising from 99 in 2022 to 122 in 2025. The 2024 budget book explains staff steps, a 3.25% pay rate and positions approved the year before at full cost, but we did not find an explanation of why actual spending was so far over the budget in the statements.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 7 sources
$5,623,153tax arrears in 2025, up from $2,140,820 in 2021
Property taxes owing from earlier years and this year are called arrears. The Town's statistical review shows total tax arrears of $2,140,820 in 2021, $2,726,768 in 2022, $3,156,963 in 2023, $5,174,512 in 2024 and $5,623,153 in 2025. As a share of the year's tax levy that is 3.3% in 2021 and 6.6% in 2025. The share of the current year's taxes collected fell from 97.2% to 95.2%. We did not find an explanation from the Town.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$18,978,329the Town's own 2025 levy, up from $17,582,782 (about 7.9%, worked out by us), while the report says 1.87%
The treasurer's message in the 2025 annual report says the Town limited its tax increase to about 1.87% on the Town's portion of the bill, and that the whole bill (Town, Region, education and hospital levy) rose about 11.58% for rural properties and 11.34% for urban ones. Eight pages later the same report says a typical residential property had a 1.87% increase on its property tax bill, and that the Town's portion was 1.56%. It also says Council approved a total budget increase of 9.22%. The statistical review shows the Town's own levy went from $17,582,782 to $18,978,329, a rise of about 7.9% (worked out by us), and the Region's from $46,955,982 to $51,059,944.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
+105%running the town office, 2019 to 2025
Niagara-on-the-Lake spent $5.9M on running the town office in 2019 and $12.1M in 2025. Prices only went up about 21% in that time. Only 4 of 34 similar towns had faster growth here.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
+61%police, fire and safety, 2019 to 2025
Niagara-on-the-Lake spent $2.5M on police, fire and safety in 2019 and $4.0M in 2025. Prices only went up about 21% in that time.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$3,706,250in the MAT reserve at the end of 2025, up from $969,063 at the end of 2023
The Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) is a tax on short stays in hotels and similar places. The Town began it in 2022. It raised $2,819,095 in 2024, against a 2024 budget of $2,100,000, and $3,917,360 in 2025. The MAT reserve (savings set aside from it) rose from $969,063 at the end of 2023 to $1,874,045 at the end of 2024 and $3,706,250 at the end of 2025. The Town has said where the money is meant to go. The question is how much has been spent on each purpose so far.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
$96,482.25billed for March 19, 2023 to September 30, 2024
An integrity commissioner is an independent officer who handles complaints about whether council members followed the code of conduct. The Town's annual reports from its commissioner show costs that move a lot: $10,732.50 and $16,450.00 plus HST in the two years before March 2022, $51,585.00 plus HST for March 2022 to March 2023, and $96,482.25 for March 19, 2023 to September 30, 2024. The report for that last period is dated April 27, 2026, about 19 months after the period ended. It says six complaints were received: two dismissed at the preliminary stage, one investigated and dismissed, one withdrawn, and two not properly filed. The Town's Integrity Commissioner page names a different firm from the office that signed the 2026 letter.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$24,590.65Council conference and event costs in 2024, up from $14,883.31 in 2023
The Town's yearly statement of what it paid Council members shows "Conferences & Events" costs (per diems, hotels and meals) of $14,883.31 in 2023 and $24,590.65 in 2024 (up about 65%, worked out by us). In 2024 the Deputy Lord Mayor, Erwin Wiens, had $8,705.50 and the Lord Mayor, Gary Zalepa, had $7,116.67 (together $15,822.17, worked out by us). Total pay and costs for Council rose from $272,543.61 to $287,034.05. The Town's 2024 budget moved conference accounts into one central line, so a budget comparison by department is not possible.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
A property tax bill in Niagara-on-the-Lake pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what Niagara-on-the-Lake council controls.
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