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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Prescott'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.
Compare · 2024
How Prescott compares with similar towns
Is Prescott spending a lot or a little? The fairest way to tell is to compare it with towns like it. We picked every Ontario town of the same type (Ontario single-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return): 23 towns with between 2,454 and 6,035 people.
How to read this. Each grey dot is one similar town. The large dot is Prescott, and the line marked "typical" is the town in the middle. The label and colour say where Prescott sits:
▼ Very low: lower than 90% of similar towns
▼ Low: lower than 75%
≈ Typical: in the middle half
▲ High: higher than 75%
▲ Very high: higher than 90%
Warning mark: unusual in a worrying way for this measure, like very low savings or a very high tax increase
Being far from the middle is not wrong by itself, but it is where to start asking why.
One thing to keep in mind: "per home" uses the number of households each town reports to the Province. Some towns count seasonal cottages as households and some do not, so comparisons with lake and cottage towns are rougher than they look.
Similar towns in Eastern Ontario include Gananoque ST.
Spending per home
What the town spends on each service, divided by the number of homes. This makes big and small towns comparable.
Total day-to-day spending
Everything the town spent in a year, divided by the number of homes.
$5,733Higher than 12 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $5,733
typical
$0$9,552+
Town property tax
The town's own share of property tax, divided by the number of homes.
$3,084Lower than 16 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $3,473
typical
$0$6,296+
Running the town office
Council, managers, office staff and the town hall, per home.
$539Lower than 19 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $780
typical
$0$1,525+
Council
Council pay, expenses and meetings, per home.
$82Higher than 13 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $81
typical
$0$185+
Roads and snow
Per home. Towns with many kilometres of rural road spend more.
$1,016Higher than 12 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $1,016
typical
$0$1,939+
Snow ploughing
Per home.
$146Higher than 18 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $107
typical
$0$417+
Police, fire and safety
Per home.
$968Higher than 18 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $772
typical
$0$1,324+
Fire department
Per home.
$229Lower than 12 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $232
typical
$0$321+
Police
Per home. Most small Ontario towns pay the OPP under the same province-wide formula.
$598Higher than 18 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $426
typical
$0$748+
Water, sewers and garbage
Per home.
$1,311Higher than 20 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $992
typical
$0$1,629+
Garbage, dump and recycling
Per home.
$162Lower than 18 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $289
typical
−$76$480+
Parks, arena and library
Per home.
$1,009Higher than 14 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $928
typical
$0$1,289+
Planning and business
Per home.
$376Higher than 23 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $125
typical
$0$376
Money health
Signs of whether the town is living within its means.
Savings compared with spending
Savings, as a share of one year's spending.
52%Lower than 14 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 63%
typical
16%163%+
Savings (reserves)
Money set aside for repairs and emergencies, per home. More is safer.
$2,982Lower than 13 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $3,402
typical
$0$9,132+
Long-term debt
What the town still owes on long-term loans, per home.
$3,670Higher than 17 of 23 similar towns. Typical: $2,028
typical
$0$10,879+
Unpaid property taxes
Property taxes owed but not yet paid at year end, as a share of all taxes billed. The Province’s financial indicators treat 10% to 15% as a moderate risk and more than 15% as high.
11%Higher than 19 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 8%
typical
2.8%15%+
Share spent running the office
Out of every dollar spent, how much goes to running the town office.
9%Lower than 22 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 17%
typical
9.4%21%+
How worn out things are
How much of the value of roads, pipes and buildings has already been used up. Higher means older.
31%Lower than 23 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 52%
typical
31%64%+
How fast costs are growing
Growth over five years (2019 to 2024), and the latest one-year change in property tax.
Property tax increase, last year
How much more the town collected in its own property tax than the year before.
6%Lower than 14 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 7%
typical
0.4%8.8%+
Property tax growth, 5 years
How much the town's own property tax grew over five years.
18%Lower than 19 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 22%
typical
7.3%32%+
Spending growth, 5 years
How much day-to-day spending grew over five years.
27%Higher than 19 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 16%
typical
1.2%37%+
Office cost growth, 5 years
How much the cost of running the town office grew over five years.
20%Lower than 16 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 24%
typical
−12%71%+
Council cost growth, 5 years
How much council costs grew over five years.
41%Higher than 19 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 11%
typical
−85%99%+
Parks and arena cost growth, 5 years
How much parks, arena and library costs grew over five years.
62%Higher than 20 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 30%
typical
−7.4%91%+
Roads cost growth, 5 years
How much road and snow costs grew over five years.
36%Higher than 20 of 23 similar towns. Typical: 23%
typical
−9.2%51%+
Source: Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2024, all 24 municipalities (archived copy). Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Retrieved 2026-10-01. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.
Towns sort costs into categories a little differently, and some share services with neighbours, so small gaps mean little. Big gaps are worth a question.
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