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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Plympton-Wyoming'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 · 9 so far
Things worth asking about
We read Plympton-Wyoming's financial reports and meeting minutes, and compared its numbers with 94 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.
$259,057actual legal fees in 2023, against a budget of $50,000
Each year's budget has a line for legal fees in the town's general government costs, separate from a second line for planning appeals. For 2023 the budget was $50,000 and the town's own actual figure is $259,057. In 2024 the budget was $75,000 and the actual figure is $99,602. The 2025 budget is $125,000, up from $40,000 for 2022. By our arithmetic (worked out by us), the 2023 actual was $209,057 over budget. The budget books do not say what the legal work was.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$1,499,569short-term interest earned in 2023, against a budget of $350,000
The Town earns interest on the cash it holds. Its budget put the 2022 interest at $125,000, and the actual figure was $604,901. For 2023 the budget was $350,000 and the actual was $1,499,569. For 2024 the budget was $1,000,000 and the actual was $1,451,429. By our arithmetic (worked out by us), the 2023 actual was $1,149,569 above budget and the 2024 actual was $451,429 above. The 2025 budget is $981,550.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
$537,044difference between the 2025 budget total in the 2025 book and in the 2026 book (worked out by us)
The 2025 budget book prints a 2025 total of $31,983,006 for expenses. The 2026 budget book prints a 2025 budget column that totals $32,520,050. The two differ by exactly $537,044 (worked out by us). That is also the figure the 2026 book shows in its 2025 "General Surplus/Deficit" line, which the 2025 book shows as a dash. In the infrastructure reserve transfer line, the 2025 column also goes from $1,714,097 to $2,251,141, which is $537,044 higher (worked out by us). The Town does not say in either book that these changes are linked.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$2,143,084actual 2024 cost on the "New Land Purchase" line, with no 2024 budget
The 2026 budget book shows an actual 2024 cost of $2,143,084 on a line called "New Land Purchase", where the 2024 budget shows a dash. The 2025 book shows dashes on that line for every budgeted year through 2025. Separately, every year's budget sets aside $1,100,000 on a line called "New Public Works Department", and the 2023 and 2024 actuals on that line are dashes. The Town said in March 2025 that its budget includes money to reserves for a future Public Works Facility. The books do not say what the land is for.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
$7,268,619grants in the 2025 budget, up from $2,845,727 in the 2022 budget
In the 2025 budget book, total municipal expenses rise from $23,429,919 (2022 budget) to $31,983,006 (2025 budget). That is about 36.5% more (worked out by us). Taxes from the tax rate go from $8,751,252 to $10,681,928, about 22.1% more (worked out by us). Grants budgeted go from $2,845,727 in 2022 to $7,268,619 in 2025. Two of the 2025 grants are named lines: a Housing Enabling Core Services Grant of $1,250,000 and a Housing Enabling Water System Fund of $2,663,040. The Town said in 2025 that it set a 3% tax rate increase.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
On the day we read it, the Town's Financial Services page linked yearly financial statements for 2017 to 2023 and no 2024 statements. The 2022 and 2023 files hold no searchable text, so a reader cannot search them or copy figures from them. The 2026 budget book labels its 2024 actual figures "audited". We did not find a council remuneration and expenses statement on the Town's website. The meeting portal asks automated readers to stay out, so it may be there.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$259,057actual legal fees in 2023, against a budget of $50,000
Each year's budget has a line for legal fees in the town's general government costs, separate from a second line for planning appeals. For 2023 the budget was $50,000 and the town's own actual figure is $259,057. In 2024 the budget was $75,000 and the actual figure is $99,602. The 2025 budget is $125,000, up from $40,000 for 2022. By our arithmetic (worked out by us), the 2023 actual was $209,057 over budget. The budget books do not say what the legal work was.
Why it matters
Legal fees are paid from taxes. A single large file can swing the number, but a budget that is raised each year suggests the Town now expects to spend more on lawyers. Residents cannot tell from the books whether this is one-off work or a new normal.
It could be because…
One or two large matters (a land or contract dispute, an insurance claim, or a planning appeal) can push a single year far over a small budget line.
The Town may have moved legal costs that used to sit in other lines into this one.
Raising the budget each year may simply be the Town catching up after an underbudgeted 2023.
Questions you could ask
What matters made up the 2023 legal fees, and how much of the total was for each kind (planning, contracts, employment, insurance)?
Why is the 2025 budget for general legal fees set at 125,000 when 2024 actual spending was lower?
Does the Town publish a yearly list of legal fees by matter?
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 Plympton-Wyoming?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
General government expenses, "Legal Fees": 2022 budget 40,000, 2022 actual 46,597, 2023 budget 50,000, 2023 actual 259,057, 2024 budget 75,000, 2025 budget 125,000.
A separate line, "Legal Fees - LPAT (previouslyOMB) Hearings, etc" under planning and development, is budgeted at 100,000 for 2023, with an actual of 86,859.
$1,499,569short-term interest earned in 2023, against a budget of $350,000
The Town earns interest on the cash it holds. Its budget put the 2022 interest at $125,000, and the actual figure was $604,901. For 2023 the budget was $350,000 and the actual was $1,499,569. For 2024 the budget was $1,000,000 and the actual was $1,451,429. By our arithmetic (worked out by us), the 2023 actual was $1,149,569 above budget and the 2024 actual was $451,429 above. The 2025 budget is $981,550.
Why it matters
Budgeted revenue lowers the tax bill that residents are asked to pay. When revenue is repeatedly underestimated, the Town ends the year with extra money. That is safer than overestimating, but it means taxes were set higher than the books needed.
It could be because…
Interest rates rose quickly in 2022 and 2023, and a cautious budget is normal when rates are hard to predict.
Large grants and reserve balances held for projects not yet built earn interest while they wait, and the amount depends on construction timing.
The Town may have chosen to keep this line low on purpose and use the extra money later (see the question on carried-forward surpluses).
Questions you could ask
How does the Town set its interest budget, and why was the 2023 figure so far below what the Town earned?
How much of the interest earned each year came from reserves and grant money, rather than from day-to-day cash?
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 Plympton-Wyoming?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
$537,044difference between the 2025 budget total in the 2025 book and in the 2026 book (worked out by us)
The 2025 budget book prints a 2025 total of $31,983,006 for expenses. The 2026 budget book prints a 2025 budget column that totals $32,520,050. The two differ by exactly $537,044 (worked out by us). That is also the figure the 2026 book shows in its 2025 "General Surplus/Deficit" line, which the 2025 book shows as a dash. In the infrastructure reserve transfer line, the 2025 column also goes from $1,714,097 to $2,251,141, which is $537,044 higher (worked out by us). The Town does not say in either book that these changes are linked.
Why it matters
A budget is the promise made to taxpayers. If the same year's budget is shown with two totals, a reader cannot tell which one council approved, or whether money was moved to reserves after the vote.
It could be because…
The 2026 book may restate the 2025 budget to include the surplus carried forward from 2024, which the Town shows as a separate line, so the difference is bookkeeping and not new spending.
Council may have approved that carry-forward by a separate vote later in 2025. We could not read the meeting portal to check.
The matching size of the reserve change may be coincidence, or simply the Town putting the carried-forward surplus into its infrastructure reserve.
Questions you could ask
Which 2025 budget total did council approve, and when was the 2024 surplus added to it?
Was the carried-forward surplus put into the infrastructure reserve, and which council vote authorised that?
Can the Town label restated budget columns so a reader can tell them from the budget as adopted?
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 Plympton-Wyoming?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
The Town said that at a Special Council Meeting on March 5, 2025, council approved the revised 2025 Budget reflecting a 3% tax rate increase.
2025 budget book: "TOTAL EXPENSES MUNICIPAL" 2025 budget 31,983,006. "Transfer to PSAB Infrastructure Reserve" 2025 budget 1,714,097. The "General Surplus/Deficit" line shows 949,569 in the 2024 budget column and a dash in the 2025 column.
2026 budget book, column headed "2025 BUDGET": "General Surplus/Deficit" 537,044; "Transfer to PSAB Infrastructure Reserve" 2,251,141; "TOTAL REVENUE" 32,520,050. The same book's "SURPLUS/DEFICIT" line for 2024 actual shows 537,044.
$2,143,084actual 2024 cost on the "New Land Purchase" line, with no 2024 budget
The 2026 budget book shows an actual 2024 cost of $2,143,084 on a line called "New Land Purchase", where the 2024 budget shows a dash. The 2025 book shows dashes on that line for every budgeted year through 2025. Separately, every year's budget sets aside $1,100,000 on a line called "New Public Works Department", and the 2023 and 2024 actuals on that line are dashes. The Town said in March 2025 that its budget includes money to reserves for a future Public Works Facility. The books do not say what the land is for.
Why it matters
A purchase of more than two million dollars that was not in the budget was either approved by council during the year or paid from reserves. Residents may want to know what the land is for, who decided and where the money came from.
It could be because…
Council may have voted mid-year to buy land that came up for sale, paying for it from the infrastructure reserve, which is how the Town's books usually handle one-off purchases.
The land may be for the new public works facility the Town says it is saving for, which would explain the yearly $1,100,000 line.
The yearly $1,100,000 line may be a placeholder that is budgeted in and out through reserves, so a dash in actuals may not mean money went unspent.
Questions you could ask
What land was bought in 2024, from whom (if the Town can say), and when did council approve it?
Was the purchase paid from reserves, and which reserve?
Is the land intended for the public works facility, and what does the Town expect that building to cost?
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 Plympton-Wyoming?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Capital expenses, "New Land Purchase": 2023 budget -, 2023 actual -, 2024 budget -, 2024 actual 2,143,084 (columns headed "2024 BUDGET" and "2024 ACT DEC 31/24").
Capital expenses: "New Public Works Department" 2023 budget 1,100,000, 2023 actual -, 2024 budget 1,100,000, 2025 budget 1,100,000. "New Land Purchase" shows a dash in every column.
Plympton-Wyoming spent $1.7M on police, fire and safety in 2019 and $2.8M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time.
Why did the cost of police, fire and safety grow 60% in 5 years?
Police, fire and safety
Prices (inflation)
+0%+20%+40%+60%+80%
+60%
201920202021202220232024
Show as a table
Year
Police, fire and safety
Prices (inflation)
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+20%
+1%
2021
+25%
+4%
2022
+47%
+11%
2023
+40%
+16%
2024
+60%
+18%
Change since the first year shown. The grey line is how much prices rose overall, for comparison.
Why it matters
When one area grows much faster than prices, it is either doing more (which may be great) or paying more for the same thing. Residents deserve to know which.
It could be because…
The town added a service, a building or staff that residents asked for.
Costs were moved from another area, so the total did not really change.
Accounting rules changed how costs are sorted.
Large one-time costs, like a study, lawsuit or repair, landed in one year.
Questions you could ask
What did the extra $1.1M a year pay for?
Why did fire department go from $524K to $1.3M?
Was each increase approved by council as a separate decision, or did it happen through the yearly budget?
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 Plympton-Wyoming?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Police, fire and safety: 2019 $1.7M, 2020 $2.1M, 2021 $2.2M, 2022 $2.6M, 2023 $2.4M, 2024 $2.8M.
Plympton-Wyoming spent $2.7M on water, sewers and garbage in 2019 and $7.9M in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time.
Why did the cost of water, sewers and garbage grow 194% in 5 years?
Water, sewers and garbage
Prices (inflation)
−50%+0%+50%+100%+150%+200%
+194%
201920202021202220232024
Show as a table
Year
Water, sewers and garbage
Prices (inflation)
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
−5%
+1%
2021
−2%
+4%
2022
+11%
+11%
2023
+17%
+16%
2024
+194%
+18%
Change since the first year shown. The grey line is how much prices rose overall, for comparison.
Why it matters
When one area grows much faster than prices, it is either doing more (which may be great) or paying more for the same thing. Residents deserve to know which.
It could be because…
The town added a service, a building or staff that residents asked for.
Costs were moved from another area, so the total did not really change.
Accounting rules changed how costs are sorted.
Large one-time costs, like a study, lawsuit or repair, landed in one year.
Questions you could ask
What did the extra $5.2M a year pay for?
Why did water treatment go from $279K to $3.5M?
Was each increase approved by council as a separate decision, or did it happen through the yearly budget?
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 Plympton-Wyoming?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
$7,268,619grants in the 2025 budget, up from $2,845,727 in the 2022 budget
In the 2025 budget book, total municipal expenses rise from $23,429,919 (2022 budget) to $31,983,006 (2025 budget). That is about 36.5% more (worked out by us). Taxes from the tax rate go from $8,751,252 to $10,681,928, about 22.1% more (worked out by us). Grants budgeted go from $2,845,727 in 2022 to $7,268,619 in 2025. Two of the 2025 grants are named lines: a Housing Enabling Core Services Grant of $1,250,000 and a Housing Enabling Water System Fund of $2,663,040. The Town said in 2025 that it set a 3% tax rate increase.
Why it matters
Grants pay for projects, but they are not guaranteed to repeat. If a growing budget leans on one-time grants, the Town may later face the choice between cutting projects and raising taxes to keep what it built.
It could be because…
Most of the grant money is for specific building projects, such as water and sewer work, and is matched by capital spending of the same size, so it does not raise day-to-day costs.
Growth in a town's population and a growing pipe network can raise both budgets and grants together.
The Town may hold some of the grant money as the budget shows it, but only spend it when the projects are built, so the actual figures can differ from the budget.
Questions you could ask
Which grants in the 2025 budget are one-time, and what happens to the projects they pay for if a grant is late or smaller?
How much of the rise in the tax levy comes from higher day-to-day costs and how much from more homes and businesses paying tax?
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 Plympton-Wyoming?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The Town said council approved the revised 2025 Budget reflecting a 3% tax rate increase, and listed water, sewer, road and park projects among its items.
On the day we read it, the Town's Financial Services page linked yearly financial statements for 2017 to 2023 and no 2024 statements. The 2022 and 2023 files hold no searchable text, so a reader cannot search them or copy figures from them. The 2026 budget book labels its 2024 actual figures "audited". We did not find a council remuneration and expenses statement on the Town's website. The meeting portal asks automated readers to stay out, so it may be there.
Why it matters
Audited statements are the independent check on what the Town reports. A recent year that is missing, or files that cannot be searched, make it harder for residents, journalists and candidates to check figures before the October 26, 2026 election.
It could be because…
The 2024 statements may be approved in public but not yet posted, or posted somewhere we did not look.
Scanned signed copies are common, because the auditor's signed report is often scanned; a searchable copy may be available on request.
The remuneration statement may be in a council agenda on the meeting portal, which we did not read.
Questions you could ask
When were the 2024 financial statements approved by council, and when will they be posted?
Can the Town post searchable copies of its audited statements?
Where is the yearly statement of council remuneration and expenses posted?
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 Plympton-Wyoming?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
The page lists financial statements for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and budgets for 2017 to 2026. No 2024 financial statements are listed.
Plympton-Wyoming spent about $295 per home on snow ploughing in 2024. The typical similar town spent $85. Only 2 of 94 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 Plympton-Wyoming?Send us your answer and we will publish it with this question.
The evidence
Snow ploughing per home: Plympton-Wyoming $295; typical similar town $85; ranked 3rd highest of 95.
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