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 Niagara-on-the-Lake, and 2025 for 34 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 Niagara-on-the-Lake, council remuneration and expense statements

   Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake · retrieved 2026-10-05

   What each council member was paid, and spent on benefits and expenses, 2023 to 2024. One statement a year; the link is the latest, and the council page links each year.

3. Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, budget documents

   Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

4. Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 (KPMG LLP, August 4, 2026)

   Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (auditor: KPMG LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2025. Clean opinion dated August 4, 2026. 40 PDF pages.

5. Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (KPMG LLP, August 7, 2025)

   Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (auditor: KPMG LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2024. Clean opinion dated August 7, 2025. 42 PDF pages.

6. 2025 Annual Report, Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake

   Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Includes the treasurer's message, the financial discussion, the audited statements and a five-year statistical review (unaudited). 86 PDF pages.

7. Approved 2024 Budget, Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake

   Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Budget summary by department with the Town's notes on what changed. 24 PDF pages.

8. 2024 Remuneration Paid to Council & Committee Members

   Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Pay and costs for each member of Council for 2024, and committee members.

9. 2023 Remuneration Paid to Council & Committee Members

   Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Pay and costs for each member of Council for 2023, and committee members.

10. Integrity Commissioner annual report, March 19, 2023 to September 30, 2024

    Office of the Integrity Commissioner, for the Town · retrieved 2026-10-05

    A two-page letter dated April 27, 2026 with complaint counts and billings.

11. Integrity Commissioner annual report, March 19, 2022 to March 18, 2023

    Integrity Commissioner, for the Town · retrieved 2026-10-05

    A four-page letter dated October 31, 2023 with the year's costs and the two years before.

12. Mayoral Decision 2025-05, Direction to Prepare Draft 2026 Budget Materials (August 28, 2025)

    Office of the Lord Mayor · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The Lord Mayor's direction to prepare the 2026 budget under the strong mayor rules, and to set up a Budget Office. Used for the Lord Mayor's name.

13. 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 34 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.