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 Owen Sound, and 2024 for 51 similar places. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.

2. City of Owen Sound, budget documents

   City of Owen Sound · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

3. The Corporation of the City of Owen Sound, Financial Information for the year ended December 31, 2024 (consolidated statements and trust funds; auditor MNP LLP)

   City of Owen Sound · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The newest audited statements posted. Clean opinion, but the report date reads "TBD, 2025". 41 PDF pages.

4. The Corporation of the City of Owen Sound, Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2023

   City of Owen Sound · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audit report dated December 23, 2024. Used for the audit date and the note on claims.

5. 2026 Mayor's Budget, tabled December 22, 2025

   City of Owen Sound · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The budget book: key facts, the tally sheet and every division's budget. 66 PDF pages.

6. Mayoral Direction MDI-2025-001, 2026 Operating Budget (December 1, 2025)

   City of Owen Sound · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The Mayor's written direction to staff on the 2026 budget, with the starting increases and the limits set.

7. Making Cents of City Spending: A Guide to Owen Sound's 2026 Mayor's Budget

   City of Owen Sound · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The City's plain-language budget guide. Used for the council list and the "one tax dollar" chart.

8. BMA Municipal Study 2025

   BMA Management Consulting, posted by the City of Owen Sound · retrieved 2026-10-05

   A consultant's comparison of Ontario municipalities, posted on the City's financial reports page. Used for the debt comparison only.

9. 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 city 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 city reported to the Province for that year.

Similar places

Ontario lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 51 places. "Typical" means the median: half of similar places are above it and half below. The size limits are a judgement call; moving them a little adds or drops a few places, so treat small differences in rank as noise. Per-home figures use the household counts each city reports to the Province. Places 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 places; when a measure of money health is worse than 80% of similar places; or when a one-year tax increase is higher than 80% of similar places and well above inflation. "Needs an answer" means worse than 90% of similar places. When there are fewer than 20 similar places, 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 city'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.