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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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 South Dundas'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.
Ontario / South DundasUpdated Oct 5, 2026

Your town, in plain words

How South Dundas uses the money we share.

A clear, checkable guide to South Dundas' budget, taxes and council decisions. A municipality of about 11,044 people (2021 Census) in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, with a mayor, a deputy mayor and three councillors. Every figure links back to the public record.

Property tax raised in 2025$22.8Mall property in South Dundas41% Town43% County15% SchoolsSee where your tax bill goes →
Town spending, 2025$13.7MAbout $2,695 per household, up 18.5% from 2024.See the money →
Property tax change+7.3%South Dundas' own property tax came to $9.8M in 2025, against $9.2M in 2024.What changed →

Where it goes

Most of every dollar supports the everyday town.

Explore every service →
Water, sewers and garbage$4.0M · 29%
Roads and snow$3.3M · 24%
Parks, arena and library$2.5M · 18%
Running the town office$1.9M · 14%
Show all 7 servicesShow fewer
Police, fire and safety$1.5M · 11%
Planning and business$332K · 2%
Health$93,412 · 1%

Day-to-day spending in 2025, from South Dundas' report to the Province.

A fair comparisonHow does South Dundas compare?Among 46 similar Ontario towns, South Dundas' day-to-day spending per household is on the low side.South Dundas is here · 13 of 46, lowest to highestCompare South Dundas →

Questions worth asking

A closer look at the numbers.

Each one is a question, not an accusation. Every one lists ordinary reasons it could be true, and the documents it comes from.

All 8 questions
Worth askingRecord-keeping

Why did the 2025 statements have to correct the 2024 figures, and by how much?

$960,106overstatement of net financial assets at the end of 2024, corrected in the 2025 statements

Net financial assets are what a municipality owns in money and money owed to it, minus what it owes. In its 2025 statements the Municipality says it found a mistake in earlier years: loans it had made from its own funds were counted as investments, and the accounting standard it follows does not allow that. It corrected the 2024 comparison figures. Net financial assets at the end of 2024 were overstated by $960,106. The 2025 statements were also audited by a new firm, Welch LLP, because the 2024 statements were audited by another auditor.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources

Worth askingMoney health

Why does South Dundas hold a $938,352 loan to a company it part-owns, with no repayment dates and no security?

$938,352owed to the Municipality by Rideau St. Lawrence Holdings Inc., with no set repayment terms

The Municipality owns 33.63% of Rideau St. Lawrence Holdings Inc., a company its statements call a government business enterprise (a business owned by governments). It has also lent the company $938,352. The statements describe the loan as having "no specific terms of repayment" and as "unsecured", meaning nothing is pledged against it. The company's own board sets the interest rate (3.72%, up to a limit of 7.25%) and decides when interest is paid. Interest income on the loan was $34,907 in both 2024 and 2025.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources

Worth askingMoney health

How big is the gap between what South Dundas's buildings and roads need and what it sets aside?

$557,539tax-funded capital in the 2025 budget, which the Municipality says is far less than the need

The Municipality's own 2025 budget book says that "The current need for investment in municipal assets far outweighs the funding available" and that the funding needed to meet its chosen level of service "is well below what is required". It says staff had to make hard choices that often led to fixing things after they broke, instead of before. The tax-funded part of the 2025 capital budget was $557,539, against $527,869 in 2024. The only readable page of the 2026 budget file is a capital list with a total of 6,329,973.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources

Worth askingOpenness

Where can residents read South Dundas's 2026 operating budget and tax levy as text?

1 of 27pages of the posted 2026 budget file with text a computer can read, by our count

The Municipality's budget page lists "2026 Budget (PDF)". The file we downloaded has 27 pages, and only one has text a computer can read: a "2026 CAPITAL BUDGET - FINAL" list with a total of 6,329,973. The other 26 pages (by our count) are pictures of pages, which we did not read, so nothing else in this pack comes from them. The budget page says that once a budget is final "a Budget By-Law will be passed to authorize the amounts". We did not find 2026 operating figures or the 2026 levy in readable form.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source

Show 4 more questionsShow fewer
Good to knowRising costs

Why is the Municipality's insurance bill rising so fast, and has the Municipality compared other insurers?

$263,713budgeted insurance for 2025, against $219,900 in 2024

The 2025 budget book says the Municipality's insurance was budgeted at $263,713 for 2025, excluding water and sewer, compared with $219,900 in 2024. That is a rise of about 19.9% (worked out by us). The Municipality explains it: higher liability claims, changes in law, a shrinking insurance market, inflation, higher costs to replace assets, and a greater risk of cyberattacks.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source

Good to knowMoney health

How much room does South Dundas have to borrow, if council turns to debt for the capital gap?

$5,909,369municipal debt at December 31, 2025

Municipal debt at the end of 2025 was $5,909,369, and $821,015 of principal is due in 2026. The 2025 budget book says Ontario's rules limit yearly debt payments to 25% of a measure of revenue; for South Dundas, based on the 2023 return to the province, the yearly repayment limit is estimated at $2,548,874. The Municipality also has an overdraft line of up to $2,000,000 that it had not used at December 31, 2025. The budget book says debt is an option council may consider for capital.

Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources

Where your tax bill goes

A property tax bill in South Dundas pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what South Dundas council controls.

Tax bill split: South Dundas 41%, County or region 43%, Schools 15%
$22.8Mraised in 2025
  • South Dundas41%
  • County or region43%
  • Schools15%

  • Every fact, sourced

    Each number links to the public document it came from. Check it yourself.

  • No accusations

    We ask questions. Every one lists ordinary reasons a number could look odd.

  • Compared fairly

    Towns are only compared with places of a similar size and kind, from the same yearly reports.

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