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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Smiths Falls'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 Smiths Falls compares with similar towns
Is Smiths Falls 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): 11 towns with between 5,839 and 14,364 people.
How to read this. Each grey dot is one similar town. The large dot is Smiths Falls, and the line marked "typical" is the town in the middle. The label and colour say where Smiths Falls 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 Pembroke.
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.
$7,101Higher than 7 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $7,062
typical
$0$13,401
Town property tax
The town's own share of property tax, divided by the number of homes.
$4,601Higher than 9 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $4,002
typical
$0$4,649
Running the town office
Council, managers, office staff and the town hall, per home.
$593Lower than 9 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $840
typical
$0$1,669
Council
Council pay, expenses and meetings, per home.
$61Higher than 6 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $61
typical
$0$213
Roads and snow
Per home. Towns with many kilometres of rural road spend more.
$777Lower than 8 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $972
typical
$0$7,202
Snow ploughing
Per home.
$49Lower than 6 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $54
typical
$0$212
Police, fire and safety
Per home.
$2,015Higher than 10 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $1,242
typical
$0$2,525
Fire department
Per home.
$475Higher than 9 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $335
typical
$0$690
Police
Per home. Most small Ontario towns pay the OPP under the same province-wide formula.
$1,435Higher than 10 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $677
typical
$0$1,863
Water, sewers and garbage
Per home.
$1,452Higher than 9 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $1,353
typical
−$162$1,530
Garbage, dump and recycling
Per home.
$295Lower than 7 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $318
typical
−$256$480
Parks, arena and library
Per home.
$915Higher than 6 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $915
typical
$0$1,341
Planning and business
Per home.
$341Higher than 9 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $276
typical
$0$524
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.
49%Lower than 7 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 64%
typical
18%139%
Savings (reserves)
Money set aside for repairs and emergencies, per home. More is safer.
$3,484Higher than 6 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $3,484
typical
$0$14,270
Long-term debt
What the town still owes on long-term loans, per home.
$3,140Higher than 8 of 11 similar towns. Typical: $3,002
typical
$0$7,731
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.
10%Higher than 8 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 8%
typical
2.4%26%
Share spent running the office
Out of every dollar spent, how much goes to running the town office.
8%Lower than 10 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 11%
typical
6.6%23%
How worn out things are
How much of the value of roads, pipes and buildings has already been used up. Higher means older.
46%Lower than 9 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 49%
typical
42%72%
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.
9%Higher than 8 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 8%
typical
0.4%12%
Property tax growth, 5 years
How much the town's own property tax grew over five years.
44%Higher than 11 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 24%
typical
9.7%44%
Spending growth, 5 years
How much day-to-day spending grew over five years.
35%Higher than 10 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 19%
typical
−2.0%36%
Office cost growth, 5 years
How much the cost of running the town office grew over five years.
36%Higher than 7 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 31%
typical
−10%195%
Council cost growth, 5 years
How much council costs grew over five years.
27%Higher than 6 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 27%
typical
−83%193%
Parks and arena cost growth, 5 years
How much parks, arena and library costs grew over five years.
58%Higher than 10 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 26%
typical
−22%74%
Roads cost growth, 5 years
How much road and snow costs grew over five years.
32%Higher than 10 of 11 similar towns. Typical: 20%
typical
2.6%41%
Source: Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2024, all 12 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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