Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to North Dundas' budget, taxes and council decisions. A rural township in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, with its main community at Winchester, a mayor, a deputy mayor and three councillors. 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.
+20%town property tax, 2024 to 2025
In 2025, North Dundas collected $1.8M more in its own property tax than in 2024. That is a 20% jump, while prices went up about 2.1%. None of the 43 similar towns raised theirs by more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
$3,809per home on long-term debt, 2025
North Dundas spent about $3,809 per home on long-term debt in 2025. The typical similar town spent $1,212. Only 2 of 43 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
$359,381.64spent on salting in 2025, against a budget of $250,000
A budget is the amount council plans to spend on a line for the year. The Township has budgeted $250,000 for salting roads in 2024, 2025 and again in 2026. The spending on that line was $251,954.85 in 2023, $264,344.69 in 2024 and $359,381.64 in 2025. The 2025 figure is $109,381.64 above the budget (worked out by us). We did not find a note in the budget that explains why the line was left at $250,000.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$159,619.30written off in 2024, against a budget of $80,000
A tax write-off is tax the Township billed but will not collect, for example after a property's value is lowered. The Township budgets $80,000 a year for write-offs, and has done so for 2024, 2025 and 2026. The amounts actually written off were $142,333.74 in 2023, $159,619.30 in 2024 and $88,647.20 in 2025. The 2024 figure is about twice the budget. We did not find the Township's explanation in the documents we read.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$19,647.52Blue Box recycling revenue in 2025, down from $244,938.20 in 2024
On the waste management page of the 2026 budget, the line "Blue Box-Waste Diversion" is revenue the Township received for recycling. It was $238,767.72 in 2023 and $244,938.20 in 2024. In 2025 the Township budgeted $58,382.00 and received $19,647.52. The 2026 budget shows 0.00. The same page shows the contracted services line for waste falling from $115,423.40 in 2024 to $42,858.55 in 2025, so the costs may have moved too. We did not find the Township's own explanation in the budget.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$148,596.14spent on waste equipment repairs in 2025, against a budget of $25,000
Two repair lines ran well above their budgets. Repairs and maintenance at the Chesterville arena cost $73,848.65 in 2024 (budget $35,000) and $72,990.10 in 2025 (budget $37,000); the 2026 budget is $39,000. Equipment repairs in waste management cost $148,596.14 in 2025 against a budget of $25,000; the 2026 budget is $61,000. We did not find the Township's explanation in the budget. The 2026 budget raises the waste line but leaves the arena line close to its old level.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$18,167,538construction loan owing at December 31, 2025, up from $14,825,269
A lagoon is part of a town's sewage treatment. The 2024 audited statements say the Township signed an agreement to build one in Winchester, that construction began in August 2023, that it was scheduled to finish in April 2025, and that the amount agreed was $13,639,031. The 2025 statements say the agreement was extended into 2026, with $53,259 remaining. The 2026 budget shows lagoon spending of $5,975,006.23 in 2023, $6,047,348.55 in 2024 and $489,566.63 in 2025, with $1,523,000 planned for 2026. The three years add to $12,511,921.41 (worked out by us). The statements also show a construction loan that grew from $14,825,269 to $18,167,538 in 2025, paid interest only until the project is complete. The statements do not say which project the loan is for, so we do not say it is the lagoon. Net debt (what the Township owes less what it holds in financial assets) was $14,787,981 at the end of 2025.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$1,494,150sewer capital levy budgeted for 2026, against $99,551.01 collected in 2025
The Winchester Sewer page of the 2026 budget plans loan interest of $760,617.00 and loan principal of $487,640.00 for 2026. In 2025 the budget had $662,943.00 and $300,955.00 for these, but the actual amounts recorded on this page were 0.00 for both. The same page budgets a "FCM Grant" of $1,300,000.00 for both 2025 and 2026 (FCM is the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which runs grants for municipalities), but nothing was received in 2025. It also budgets $1,494,150.00 from a Winchester sewer capital levy (a charge raised from sewer users for building work) in 2026, against $99,551.01 collected in 2025.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$6,514,825spent on transportation in 2025, against a budget of $5,134,336
The audited 2025 statements compare each service's spending to the budget. Transportation (roads) was budgeted at $5,134,336 and came in at $6,514,825. Environmental services (water, sewer, garbage and recycling) was budgeted at $3,878,075 and came in at $4,628,675. Total spending was $19,996,601 against $17,987,278 (the three gaps, worked out by us, are $1,380,489, $750,600 and $2,009,323). Revenue also came in above the budget, and the Township still finished with an annual surplus of $5,417,947, below the budgeted $6,500,558 (a gap of $1,082,611, worked out by us).
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
+84%parks, arena and library, 2019 to 2025
North Dundas spent $1.7M on parks, arena and library in 2019 and $3.2M in 2025. Prices only went up about 21% in that time. Only 7 of 43 similar towns had faster growth here.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
+63%police, fire and safety, 2019 to 2025
North Dundas spent $1.1M on police, fire and safety in 2019 and $1.8M in 2025. Prices only went up about 21% in that time.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
+51%water, sewers and garbage, 2019 to 2025
North Dundas spent $2.6M on water, sewers and garbage in 2019 and $3.9M in 2025. Prices only went up about 21% in that time.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$3.4Mowed in unpaid property tax, end of 2025
At the end of 2025, $3.4M of property tax had been billed but not paid. That is 12% of everything billed. Only 4 of 43 similar towns had a higher share. A year earlier it was $2.6M.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
No amountset aside in the 2025 statements for this possible liability
Both the 2024 and 2025 audited statements carry the same note. The Township was self-insured for workplace-safety claims from 1997 to 2010. A 2014 provincial rule change, effective back to 1960, widened which illnesses are presumed to be work-related for firefighters. The Township says it is assessing the effect, cannot say whether it owes anything, and has made no provision (no money set aside). The wording did not change between the two years.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
−$14.8Mnet financial position, 2025
In 2019, North Dundas had $10.3M more in cash and money owed to it than it owed to others. By 2025 it was −$14.8M. About 18% of that change ($4.6M) is a new accounting rule from 2023: towns must now record the future cost of closing things like a landfill. That is not new spending or borrowing. Even leaving that out, only 3 of 43 similar towns are in a weaker position.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
A property tax bill in North Dundas pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what North Dundas council controls.
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