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 Prescott, and 2024 for 23 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. Town of Prescott, budget documents

   Town of Prescott · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

3. Council agenda, December 15, 2025 (includes the 2024 audited financial statements and audit findings)

   Town of Prescott · retrieved 2026-10-07

   147 pages. Audit presentation, KPMG audit findings report, 2024 consolidated statements and notes, water tower demolition tender report, October 2025 financial report.

4. Council agenda, March 17, 2025

   Town of Prescott · retrieved 2026-10-07

   2025 operational budget report and the 2024 statement of council remuneration and expenses.

5. Council agenda, May 20, 2025

   Town of Prescott · retrieved 2026-10-07

   Recommendation to accept the 2023 financial statements.

6. Council agenda, December 1, 2025

   Town of Prescott · retrieved 2026-10-07

   Report on the 2026 budget process under strong mayor powers.

7. Integrity Commissioner report to Council, May 29, 2024 (files 23476-46, 23476-49, 23476-51)

   Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP · retrieved 2026-10-07

   Public report on a Code of Conduct investigation.

8. Integrity Commissioner annual report for 2025, March 18, 2026

   Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP · retrieved 2026-10-07

   Requests for advice, complaints and cost for 2025.

9. Budget and Finance page

   Town of Prescott · retrieved 2026-10-07

   List of budget and financial statement documents posted.

10. 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 single-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 23 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.