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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Russell'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 · 2025
How Russell compares with similar towns
Is Russell 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 lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2025 return): 25 towns with between 14,540 and 35,520 people.
How to read this. Each grey dot is one similar town. The large dot is Russell, and the line marked "typical" is the town in the middle. The label and colour say where Russell 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 Loyalist, Greater Napanee, Clarence-Rockland.
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.
$4,657Higher than 18 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $3,792
typical
$0$5,639+
Town property tax
The town's own share of property tax, divided by the number of homes.
$2,440Lower than 16 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $2,612
typical
$0$3,876+
Running the town office
Council, managers, office staff and the town hall, per home.
$428Lower than 21 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $570
typical
$0$1,430+
Council
Council pay, expenses and meetings, per home.
$100Higher than 22 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $50
typical
$0$332+
Roads and snow
Per home. Towns with many kilometres of rural road spend more.
$906Higher than 23 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $640
typical
$0$1,165+
Snow ploughing
Per home.
$86Lower than 15 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $114
typical
$0$216+
Police, fire and safety
Per home.
$783Higher than 13 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $783
typical
$0$1,228+
Fire department
Per home.
$213Lower than 21 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $288
typical
$0$510+
Police
Per home. Most small Ontario towns pay the OPP under the same province-wide formula.
$297Lower than 14 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $311
typical
$0$891+
Water, sewers and garbage
Per home.
$1,338Higher than 24 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $874
typical
$0$1,338+
Garbage, dump and recycling
Per home.
$308Higher than 25 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $84
typical
$0$308
Parks, arena and library
Per home.
$541Lower than 17 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $703
typical
$0$1,358+
Planning and business
Per home.
$135Lower than 17 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $185
typical
$0$421+
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.
66%Lower than 20 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 88%
typical
40%258%+
Savings (reserves)
Money set aside for repairs and emergencies, per home. More is safer.
$3,082Lower than 14 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $3,214
typical
$0$10,973+
Long-term debt
What the town still owes on long-term loans, per home.
$4,432Higher than 24 of 25 similar towns. Typical: $1,212
typical
$0$4,432+
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.
6%Lower than 15 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 7%
typical
4.7%14%+
Share spent running the office
Out of every dollar spent, how much goes to running the town office.
9%Lower than 23 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 16%
typical
8.7%29%+
How worn out things are
How much of the value of roads, pipes and buildings has already been used up. Higher means older.
32%Lower than 22 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 41%
typical
31%58%+
How fast costs are growing
Growth over five years (2020 to 2025), 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.
11%Higher than 24 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 7%
typical
3.2%11%+
Property tax growth, 5 years
How much the town's own property tax grew over five years.
52%Higher than 23 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 38%
typical
22%53%+
Spending growth, 5 years
How much day-to-day spending grew over five years.
79%Higher than 23 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 47%
typical
28%96%+
Office cost growth, 5 years
How much the cost of running the town office grew over five years.
66%Higher than 17 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 55%
typical
5.7%149%+
Council cost growth, 5 years
How much council costs grew over five years.
171%Higher than 23 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 39%
typical
−48%203%+
Parks and arena cost growth, 5 years
How much parks, arena and library costs grew over five years.
61%Lower than 19 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 80%
typical
44%157%+
Roads cost growth, 5 years
How much road and snow costs grew over five years.
155%Higher than 25 of 25 similar towns. Typical: 38%
typical
−20%155%
Source: Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2025, all 26 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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