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 2024 for Oro-Medonte, and 2024 for 46 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. Township of Oro-Medonte, budget documents

   Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

3. Corporation of the Township of Oro-Medonte, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2024 (Baker Tilly KDN LLP)

   Township of Oro-Medonte (auditor: Baker Tilly KDN LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2024, clean opinion, 28 PDF pages. Auditor's report dated March 26, 2026.

4. Corporation of the Township of Oro-Medonte, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2023 (Baker Tilly KDN LLP)

   Township of Oro-Medonte (auditor: Baker Tilly KDN LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2023, clean opinion, 27 PDF pages. Page 3 (the management report) is an image with no readable text, so we did not use it.

5. 2025-2026 Operating Budget (draft budget presentation, operating slides)

   Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Department-by-department operating budget for 2023 to 2026 with the Township's change explanations, 30 PDF pages.

6. 2025-2026 Capital Budget (draft budget presentation, capital slides)

   Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Project-by-project capital budget for 2025 and 2026, 114 PDF pages.

7. 2025-2026 Budget Process and Assumptions (updated January 2025)

   Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Budget overview slides: survey results, pressures, asset management funding gap, revenue, 58 PDF pages.

8. January 28, 2026 council resolutions re budget (Motions C260128-4 to C260128-6)

   Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Three motions on the Mayor's 2026 budget recalibration.

9. Report FI2026-08: Treasurer Statement, Development Charges Activity as at December 31, 2025 (council meeting June 24, 2026)

   Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The yearly development charges statement, 5 PDF pages.

10. Schedule A: 2025 Development Charges Reserve Activity Summary

    Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

    Opening and closing balances of each development charge account for 2025.

11. Schedule B: 2025 Development Charges Capital Projects

    Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

    Capital projects funded from development charges in 2025.

12. Township news release: 2025-2026 Multi-Year Budget Approved (May 5, 2025)

    Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The Township's own summary of the adopted budget and tax increases.

13. Township web page: City of Barrie boundary expansion request (most recent update March 25, 2026)

    Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

    The Township's account of the Barrie boundary adjustment, including the compensation it received.

14. Township web page: Financial Statements

    Township of Oro-Medonte · retrieved 2026-10-05

    List of posted audited statements.

15. 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 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 46 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.