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 Prince Edward County, and 2024 for 2 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. Prince Edward County, budget documents

   Prince Edward County · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

3. Consolidated Financial Statements of The Corporation of the County of Prince Edward, December 31, 2024 (KPMG LLP, September 9, 2025)

   County of Prince Edward (auditor: KPMG LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2024, with 2023 for comparison. Clean opinion. 47 PDF pages.

4. 2026 Municipal Budget Book

   County of Prince Edward · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The first budget book, 160 PDF pages: summary, reserves, debt and each department.

5. 2026 Tax-supported Operating Budget

   County of Prince Edward · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Line-by-line operating statements by division: year to October 2025, the 2025 budget and the 2026 budget.

6. Financial Indicator Review (based on 2024 Financial Information Return), Prince Edward County

   Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, posted by the County · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The Province's yearly indicators, compared with the median and average of southern single-tier municipalities. Prepared January 5, 2026.

7. Office of the Integrity Commissioner, Open Session Report, Code of Conduct Complaints re: Picton Terminals Litigation (September 4, 2024)

   Integrity Commissioner · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Four pages. Read for the accountability entry only.

8. Declaration of Conflict of Interest Registry 2025 and 2026

   County of Prince Edward · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Read, not used for any question.

9. 2022 Municipal and School Board Elections, Candidate Compliance, Section 88.25 (Clerk, May 2, 2023)

   Office of the Clerk · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Lists each 2022 candidate and whether they filed their financial statement.

10. 2027 Council / Committee Schedule (approved September 22, 2026)

    County of Prince Edward · retrieved 2026-10-05

    One page. Its legend lists the 2027 budget meetings.

11. 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 single-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 2 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.