Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to South Stormont's budget, taxes and council decisions. A township in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry counties, east of Cornwall, with a mayor, a deputy mayor and three councillors elected by the whole township. Every figure links back to the public record.
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Questions worth asking
Each one is a question, not an accusation. Every one lists ordinary reasons it could be true, and the documents it comes from.
+10%town property tax, 2024 to 2025
In 2025, South Stormont collected $960K more in its own property tax than in 2024. That is a 10% jump, while prices went up about 2.1%. Only 3 of 44 similar towns raised theirs by more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 3 sources
$12,148,597spent on capital assets in 2025, against a budget of $26,837,060
Capital spending is money for lasting things: roads, buildings, water plants. The 2025 budget planned $26,837,060 of it. The audited statements show $12,148,597 (worked out by us, a little under half). The budget also expected $14,775,470 in capital grants and $6,798,000 in new borrowing. The statements show $4,732,530 in capital grants and no new borrowing of that size. The Township's statements say its capital budgets are built project by project and a project can take more than one year. Its asset plan says it won a $21.9 million provincial grant toward two water and sewage plants. The statements do not list which projects were finished and which were pushed to later years.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$(318,553)roads reserve at December 31, 2025, down from $238,840
A reserve is money a township sets aside for a future purpose, like a savings account for roads or fire trucks. At the end of 2025 the roads reserve stood at $(318,553), a negative balance, down from $238,840 a year earlier. The fire reserve fell from $1,463,933 to $244,037, a drop of $1,219,896 (worked out by us). The water and wastewater reserve rose to $7,434,610. The Township's own financial strategy recommends a minimum balance for its capital reserves: $745,000 for tax-supported services and $1.0 million for water and sewer. That minimum is for the reserves added together, so it does not apply to the roads reserve alone. The statements do not say why the roads and fire balances moved.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 2 sources
8.1% to 8.4%average yearly increase in taxes and water charges the Township's 2024 long-term plan calls for
The Township's 2024 long-term financial plan, written by consultants for Council, says that to pay for the work it lists, taxes and water and sewer charges need to rise by 8.1% to 8.4% a year on average over ten years. Its Table 5-1 puts the Township's property tax on a median home ($210,000 assessed value) at $1,177 in 2024 and $1,896 or $2,073 in 2033; water and sewer charges are counted separately. A 2025 water and sewer rate study recommends that the water rate in Long Sault and Ingleside rise from $1.63 to $1.77 per cubic metre in 2026, and that wastewater rates rise by 6.1% a year on average. Past budgets on the Township's page show tax rate increases of 3% (2022) and 5% (2023). We did not find the increases Council adopted for 2024, 2025 or 2026.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
13.9%share of the Township's own revenue that debt payments reach by 2033 in the long-term plan, up from 5%
At the end of 2025 the Township owed $6,295,782 on its loans. Its 2024 long-term plan expects new debt to pay for about 55% of its capital funding over ten years, with $61.9 million to $62.9 million of new borrowing for water and sewer work if the provincial water grant is received. The plan says debt payments would grow from 5% of the Township's own income to 13.9% by 2033. The 2025 budget expected $6,798,000 of new borrowing; the statements show none of that size (they show a $50,200 loan). Since then, the Township has been told it won a $21.9 million grant for two plants.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$2,576,591from land sales in 2024, against $147,472 in 2025
The Township sells land it owns, and the money is counted as revenue. In 2024 the statements show $2,576,591 from land sales, against a budget of $3,449,277. In 2025 the budget was $500,000 and the statements show $147,472. The Township's budget page says its revenue comes from taxes, grants, fees, reserves, investments and land sales. The land it holds for resale was $400,994 at the end of 2025, the same as the year before. We did not find which properties were sold, to whom, or why the 2024 figure was so large.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
+95%police, fire and safety, 2019 to 2025
South Stormont spent $1.4M on police, fire and safety in 2019 and $2.8M in 2025. Prices only went up about 21% in that time.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$724,313net financial assets at December 31, 2025, down from $2,939,290
"Net financial assets" is what a town owns in cash and money owed to it, minus what it owes. At the end of 2025 that was $724,313, down from $2,939,290 a year earlier. Bills waiting to be paid ("accounts payable and accruals") rose from $5,038,155 to $7,824,081. A line in the statements called "Unfinanced capital outlay" was $(2,192,952), which means capital work has been paid for ahead of the money meant to cover it. The Township still held $15,133,038 in cash, of which $2,582,499 was restricted. The 2025 budget planned for net financial assets to end the year at $(4,445,937), so the actual result was better than planned.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
2parcels the Township says could be environmentally impacted, with no cost recorded
The notes to the 2025 statements say the Township has identified two parcels of land that are not being used, or only partly used, and "could be environmentally impacted". The notes say the cost of the environmental studies is unknown, and no liability has been recorded because the Township thinks it unlikely it will have to clean them up. The notes do not say where the parcels are. They also say the Township is involved in legal actions in the normal course of business and that its insurers are defending them. No amounts are given.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
A property tax bill in South Stormont pays for three governments. Only part of it goes to the town, and that part is what South Stormont council controls.
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