Not the full picture. Built from public records, which leave things out.Read by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date. Check the sources, and tell us if you spot a mistake. What this site can't tell you Read by hand. We read Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl's own documents for this site in October 2026; the Sources page lists which ones. The comparisons with other places still come from the Province's yearly reports.
Questions · 10 so far
Things worth asking about
We read Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl's financial reports and meeting minutes, and compared its numbers with 11 similar Ontario towns. These are the things that stood out.
What these are, and what they are not. A question here means a number or practice is unusual, or harder to see than it should be. It does not mean anyone did anything wrong. Most unusual numbers turn out to have ordinary explanations, and every question lists some. The only way to know is to ask.
Worth asking
Worth asking
There may well be a good reason. It is still worth asking what it is.
$950,000"External Financing" counted as revenue in the 2026 budget, up from $750,000 in 2025
The 2026 budget shows $950,000 of "External Financing" paying for road and other capital work. The 2025 budget had a line of $750,000. The 2025 cash flow shows the Town only paying debt back, with no new borrowing, and long-term debt fell to $578,826.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
Towns keep savings (called reserves) to pay for new trucks, roof repairs and surprises. Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl had $3.5M saved at the end of 2025, down from $5.1M in 2019. That is 39% of one year's spending. Only 1 of 11 similar towns had less, compared with what they spend.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl spent about $680 per home on council in 2025. The typical similar town spent $85. None of the 11 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
$601,282recorded as a recovery in 2025 on the landfill and building clean-up estimate, inside a $1,193,300 surplus
The draft 2025 statements show an annual surplus of $1,193,300. $601,282 of it is a "recovery" on the estimated cost of closing the Town's landfills and cleaning up buildings (called an asset retirement obligation). It is a change in an estimate, not cash. Without it, the surplus was $592,018.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$12,141,437total revenue in 2025 against a budget of $9,812,540 (draft statements)
In the draft 2025 statements, total revenue was $12,141,437 against a budget of $9,812,540, and total expenses were $11,549,419 against $9,057,842. Some lines differ by a factor of four. The Town's auditor said the same thing about the 2024 statements.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
5.57%rise in the common levy, to $3,442,097, in the 2026 draft budget
The 2026 draft budget raises the common levy (the part of the municipal tax that pays for shared costs) from $3,260,338 to $3,442,097, which is 5.57%. In the same budget the Province's Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) grant rises from $1,714,900 to $2,007,100. The average residential bill rises 2.17%.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$31,850.88spent on the municipal audit to August 31, 2025, against a 2025 budget of $25,000
Two lines in the 2026 draft budget are unchanged at $25,000: the audit and council travel. The same page shows 2025 spending to August 31 of $31,850.88 on the audit and $28,138.95 on council travel, both already past the 2025 budget with four months to go.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$3,072,775municipal surplus on the Town's operating summary at August 31, 2026, against a budget of $0 for the year
The Town's own operating summary to August 31, 2026 shows a municipal surplus of $3,072,775. The approved budget for the whole year is $0. Capital spending so far is $844,404 against a budgeted $162,700.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$10,446.44spent on municipal legal fees to August 31, 2025, against a 2025 budget of $20,000
A note to the draft 2025 statements says the Town is involved in certain legal matters and litigation, and that the outcomes are not yet known. It does not say what they are or give an amount. The legal fees line in the budget is modest.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
In 2019, Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl had $3.3M more in cash and money owed to it than it owed to others. By 2025 it was −$2.2M. About 116% of that change ($6.4M) 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 5 of 11 similar towns are in a weaker position.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$950,000"External Financing" counted as revenue in the 2026 budget, up from $750,000 in 2025
The 2026 budget shows $950,000 of "External Financing" paying for road and other capital work. The 2025 budget had a line of $750,000. The 2025 cash flow shows the Town only paying debt back, with no new borrowing, and long-term debt fell to $578,826.
Why it matters
If the line means a loan, residents will pay it back with interest over years. If it means grants or something else, residents should know which. The budget pages do not say.
It could be because…
It may be a loan the Town plans to take for the roads project, which council would approve by by-law before borrowing.
It may be grant or partner money the Town expects but has not yet been promised, so it is carried as external financing.
The 2025 amount may not have been needed, because the Town paid for 2025 capital work with grants and by cashing in investments instead.
Questions you could ask
What is the "External Financing" line: a loan, a grant, or something else?
If it is a loan, what is the amount, the term and the interest rate, and where will council vote on it?
Was the $750,000 in the 2025 budget used, and for what?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Capital Projects 1,812,480. Increase (Decrease) in Capital Reserves (808,480). External Financing (950,000). Net municipal levy $6,166,285. Education levy 1,083,508. Total levy $7,249,793.
Wards 2, 3 and 4 shared area rate, capital projects: Roadways expenses 2,998,480 and revenues 1,460,000. External Financing revenues 950,000, with the prior year shown as (750,000). Total ward expenses $6,753,525 and revenues $4,194,405.
The cash flow statement shows, under financing activities, only "Repayment of long-term debt" of (161,208). The statement of financial position shows long-term debt of 578,826 (2024: 740,034).
Towns keep savings (called reserves) to pay for new trucks, roof repairs and surprises. Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl had $3.5M saved at the end of 2025, down from $5.1M in 2019. That is 39% of one year's spending. Only 1 of 11 similar towns had less, compared with what they spend.
Does Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl have enough saved for repairs and emergencies?
$0$2.0M$4.0M$6.0M
$3.5M
2019202020212022202320242025
Show as a table
Year
Savings (reserves)
2019
$5.1M
2020
$3.7M
2021
$3.3M
2022
$4.5M
2023
$3.8M
2024
$4.4M
2025
$3.5M
Why it matters
With little saved, a broken bridge or a storm has to be paid for with a sudden tax increase or a loan. Low savings can also mean past budgets were balanced by spending savings instead of facing the real cost.
It could be because…
The town spent savings on purpose, on projects that were planned and saved up for.
Some savings were used to match grant money, which brings in more than it costs.
The town has a plan to rebuild its savings.
Questions you could ask
Does the town have a written reserve policy with a target amount?
What were the savings spent on between 2019 and 2025?
What is the plan to rebuild them, and by when?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl spent about $680 per home on council in 2025. The typical similar town spent $85. None of the 11 similar towns spent more.
Why it matters
Spending more than neighbours is not wrong by itself. It might buy better service. But it is the first place to look for costs that could be lower, such as contracts that were not competitively bid.
It could be because…
Geography: more roads, more snow, a bigger area or a landfill of its own.
Accounting: some towns record the same cost in a different category.
A one-time cost in this year.
Questions you could ask
What makes this cost higher here than in similar towns?
When were the main contracts in this area last put out to competitive tender?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Council per home: Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl $680; typical similar town $85; ranked 1st highest of 12.
$601,282recorded as a recovery in 2025 on the landfill and building clean-up estimate, inside a $1,193,300 surplus
The draft 2025 statements show an annual surplus of $1,193,300. $601,282 of it is a "recovery" on the estimated cost of closing the Town's landfills and cleaning up buildings (called an asset retirement obligation). It is a change in an estimate, not cash. Without it, the surplus was $592,018.
Why it matters
A surplus can mean two different things: money the Town has, or a change in how a future cost is estimated. Residents can only judge the Town's position if they know which one it is. The same note puts the full future cost at $6,365,222, far more than the Town's other debts.
It could be because…
The note says the estimate is discounted at a higher rate than last year, which makes the cost today look smaller. That is an accounting change, and it can reverse in a later year.
The auditor's report on the same statements says they "present fairly", so the treatment may simply follow the accounting standard for these obligations.
The 2025 budget's own note shows the budgeted surplus was meant to pay for capital work and reserves, so a surplus on paper does not mean money left over.
Questions you could ask
How much cash will closing the landfills and cleaning up the buildings cost, and when?
How much has the Town set aside in reserves for those costs?
What would the 2025 surplus have been using last year's discount rate?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Annual surplus before undemoted items 592,018. Asset retirement obligation accretion expense (recovery) (601,282). Annual surplus 1,193,300. The budget column shows an annual surplus of 754,698.
The landfill liability is discounted at a rate of 5.98% (2024 - 4.96%). Landfill accretion expense (recovery) (630,324) and facilities 29,042 make a total of (601,282). The closing balance of the obligation is 6,365,222, against an opening balance of 6,966,504.
In the budget note, the budgeted surplus of 754,698 is reduced by capital expenditures of (162,700) and transfer to reserves of (590,998), leaving a budgeted surplus of nil.
$12,141,437total revenue in 2025 against a budget of $9,812,540 (draft statements)
In the draft 2025 statements, total revenue was $12,141,437 against a budget of $9,812,540, and total expenses were $11,549,419 against $9,057,842. Some lines differ by a factor of four. The Town's auditor said the same thing about the 2024 statements.
Why it matters
A budget is how residents and council check the year's spending. When the budget and the year-end figures are drawn up on different bases, a reader cannot tell a real overspend from a different way of counting.
It could be because…
The budget is built to set the tax levy and leaves out items the statements must include, such as amortization (the yearly wearing out of buildings, roads and equipment) and clean-up estimates.
Grants for capital projects and fees from the marina and landfill may be counted in the statements but budgeted elsewhere.
The Town's note says the budget is the one council approved on December 3, 2024, adjusted only by capital spending and transfers to reserves.
Questions you could ask
Will the Town show council its budget and the year-end results side by side on one basis?
Which of the large differences, such as user charges and environmental services, are timing or grants, and which are real changes?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Total revenue: budget 2025 9,812,540, actual 2025 12,141,437. User charges and fees: budget 1,373,525, actual 2,739,883. Environmental services expenses: budget 402,093, actual 1,808,891. Total expenses: budget 9,057,842, actual 11,549,419.
"Budget data presented in these consolidated financial statements are based on the 2025 budget approved by Council on December 3, 2024." The reconciliation starts from a budgeted surplus of 754,698 and subtracts capital expenditures of (162,700) and transfer to reserves of (590,998).
The auditor's slide on the 2024 results ends: "significant differences exist between the Town's financial statements and budget". It gives the 2024 annual surplus as $510K.
5.57%rise in the common levy, to $3,442,097, in the 2026 draft budget
The 2026 draft budget raises the common levy (the part of the municipal tax that pays for shared costs) from $3,260,338 to $3,442,097, which is 5.57%. In the same budget the Province's Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) grant rises from $1,714,900 to $2,007,100. The average residential bill rises 2.17%.
Why it matters
When a grant grows, residents may expect it to lower the tax they pay. They can only see whether it did if the budget says what the extra money and the extra levy pay for.
It could be because…
Shared costs such as land ambulance, policing and the recreation centre may have risen by more than the grant.
The levy figure covers shared costs only. Ward area rates are charged on top, and the combined average residential bill rises less, 2.17%.
Part of the larger grant may be replacing money the Town used to take from reserves.
Questions you could ask
What did the extra $292,200 of provincial grant pay for?
Which shared costs rose most, and by how much, to take the common levy up 5.57%?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Common levy $3,442,097. Prior year's levy $3,260,338. Percentage change in levy 5.57%. OMPF (Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund) 2,007,100. Common expenditure $7,338,633. Common revenues 3,896,536.
$31,850.88spent on the municipal audit to August 31, 2025, against a 2025 budget of $25,000
Two lines in the 2026 draft budget are unchanged at $25,000: the audit and council travel. The same page shows 2025 spending to August 31 of $31,850.88 on the audit and $28,138.95 on council travel, both already past the 2025 budget with four months to go.
Why it matters
A budget line that was passed early in the year and then repeated at the same amount may be too low again. Residents can only see that if the budget shows the year's spending next to it.
It could be because…
Audit costs often include extra work in one year, such as a change in accounting rules, that will not repeat.
Council travel includes conferences held in the spring and summer, so the second half of the year may be much quieter.
The draft may be adjusted once the full 2025 year-end totals are known.
Questions you could ask
What was spent on the audit and on council travel in all of 2025?
Why were these two lines kept at $25,000 for 2026?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Municipal Audit (00-01-035-014-6315): 2025 budget 25,000.00, actuals to Aug 31 31,850.88, 2026 draft 25,000.00. Council Travel (00-01-030-013-6516): 2025 budget 25,000.00, actuals to Aug 31 28,138.95, 2026 draft 25,000.00.
$3,072,775municipal surplus on the Town's operating summary at August 31, 2026, against a budget of $0 for the year
The Town's own operating summary to August 31, 2026 shows a municipal surplus of $3,072,775. The approved budget for the whole year is $0. Capital spending so far is $844,404 against a budgeted $162,700.
Why it matters
A large surplus part-way through the year can be only timing. Readers cannot tell which without knowing when the Town books transfers to reserves, the second tax instalment and the year's capital work.
It could be because…
The summary shows $0 for every "Transfers to Reserves" line so far, and those may be booked at year-end.
Only eight of twelve months are in, and the net levy collected so far, $6,152,269, is close to the full-year $6,166,285 while spending is still under way.
Capital and road work is mostly done in the summer and autumn, so spending catches up later.
Questions you could ask
When in the year does the Town move money to reserves?
What does the Town expect the surplus to be at year-end?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Total expenditure: approved budget $11,492,483, actuals $6,215,781. Net operating: $162,700 and $3,917,179. Net capital expenditure: $162,700 and $844,404. Municipal surplus/(-deficit): $0 and $3,072,775.
$10,446.44spent on municipal legal fees to August 31, 2025, against a 2025 budget of $20,000
A note to the draft 2025 statements says the Town is involved in certain legal matters and litigation, and that the outcomes are not yet known. It does not say what they are or give an amount. The legal fees line in the budget is modest.
Why it matters
Most towns have some claims against them. When the note gives no detail, residents cannot tell whether they are routine or large.
It could be because…
The wording is standard in municipal statements and may cover ordinary insurance claims or planning appeals.
The Town's insurer may handle the claims, so the Town's own legal spending stays low.
Details may be shared with the auditor but kept out of public notes while a matter is open.
Questions you could ask
How many legal matters are open, and what is the most the Town could owe?
Is any of that covered by the Town's insurance?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
"The Town is involved in certain legal matters and litigation, the outcomes of which are not presently determinable."
In 2019, Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl had $3.3M more in cash and money owed to it than it owed to others. By 2025 it was −$2.2M. About 116% of that change ($6.4M) 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 5 of 11 similar towns are in a weaker position.
Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl went from having money in the bank to owing more than it has. What changed?
−$4.0M−$2.0M$0$2.0M$4.0M
−$2.2M
2019202020212022202320242025
Show as a table
Year
Net financial position
2019
$3.3M
2020
$2.1M
2021
$2.3M
2022
$2.3M
2023
−$3.1M
2024
−$2.5M
2025
−$2.2M
Why it matters
This number is one of the clearest signs of whether a town is living within its means. The accounting-rule part is a bill that will come due when the landfill closes, not money already spent. The rest is real borrowing and spending of savings.
It could be because…
A new accounting rule (asset retirement obligations, from 2023) added a large future cost to the books all at once.
Borrowing for a planned project, such as sewage lagoons, which is paid back over many years.
Questions you could ask
What is the plan and timeline for paying the landfill closing cost?
Without the accounting change, is the town's position getting better or worse?
You can ask during the public part of a council meeting, by writing to the clerk, or by contacting your councillors. How to reach council.
Speak for Northeastern Manitoulin & The Isl?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
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