Your town, in plain words
A clear, checkable guide to St-Charles' budget, taxes and council decisions. A small municipality in the Sudbury District on the West Arm of Lake Nipissing, with a mayor and four councillors. 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.
$559per home on council, 2024
St-Charles spent about $559 per home on council in 2024. The typical similar town spent $111. Only 1 of 48 similar towns spent more.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 1 source
$5,562,147.99new loans listed in the 2026 budget (sum of three lines, worked out by us)
A municipality borrows when it spends more on big projects than it has saved or been given. The 2026 budget lists three new loans: $4,732,147.99 for a project on Casimir, King and St. Joseph roads, $450,000 for a 2026 tandem truck and $380,000 for a 2025 tandem truck. Added together (worked out by us), that is $5,562,147.99, about 14 times the $393,273 of debt in the 2024 audited statements. The capital side of the budget (big projects) grows from $1,822,344.61 in the 2025 budget to $7,725,529.80 in 2026. The 2026 budget carries $105,000 of interest and $75,000 of principal for the road loan. That is a small share of $4,732,147.99, so the budget may show only part of a full year's payment. We could not read the staff reports and by-laws behind the loan, because the meeting portal blocks scripted downloads.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 6 sources
$830,000two truck loans in the 2026 budget with no repayment line we could find (sum worked out by us)
The 2026 budget has repayment lines (interest and principal) for the road loan and for a "2024 Tandem" loan. We did not find repayment lines for the "2025 Tandem Truck Loan" of $380,000 or the "2026 Tandem Truck Loan" of $450,000, which are both listed as loans coming in. The $380,000 also appears as "2025 Tandem Loan proceeds to AMP Reserve", meaning it goes into the asset management reserve, not into a truck purchase.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
April 1, 2026date of the auditor's report on the 2024 statements
Audited statements are the independent check on a town's books. The 2024 statements carry an auditor's report dated April 1, 2026, and the auditor's presentation to Council was prepared as of March 20, 2026 for April 1, 2026. The auditor's own timeline in the same presentation shows final fieldwork and reporting in October and November 2025. The 2023 statements were dated November 20, 2024, about 11 months after year-end (worked out by us). The 2025 statements were not posted when we read the page on October 7, 2026.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$869,066landfill closure obligation at December 31, 2024, against a reserve of $48,514
A town that runs a landfill has to close it and look after it for years afterward. The 2024 statements record a landfill closure liability of $869,066, up from $390,377, after a re-estimate of $470,001. Together with $110,477 for asbestos removal, the asset retirement obligation is $979,543. The statements list it as "unfunded", and the landfill site closure reserve holds $48,514. The notes say no remediation is budgeted for the next twelve months. The 2026 budget again sets aside $7,000 for the "Landfill Reserve".
Found by reading the town's own documents · 5 sources
$408,387contracted services for protection in 2024, against $166,940 in 2023
In the segment note of the audited statements, the "Contracted services" cost of protection to persons and property was $166,940 in 2023 and $408,387 in 2024, a rise of $241,447 (worked out by us). Protection covers police, fire and other protective services. Total spending on this service rose from $500,142 to $758,437. The 2023 and 2024 budgets each listed policing fees of about $260,000 on their own, which is more than the 2023 contracted-services figure.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 4 sources
+49%police, fire and safety, 2019 to 2024
St-Charles spent $470K on police, fire and safety in 2019 and $700K in 2024. Prices only went up about 18% in that time.
Found automatically from the town's financial reports · 2 sources
$58,662gap between amortization in note 10 and in the statements (worked out by us; also printed as a disposal/transfer)
Amortization spreads the cost of an asset over its life. In 2023 the note on capital assets and the statements agree at $319,660. In 2024 note 10 shows $471,393 of amortization charged to assets, while the statement of cash flows and the segment note use $412,731. The $58,662 gap is the same amount shown as "disposals and transfers" in accumulated amortization of land improvements, where the cost column shows no disposals. The statements do not explain it.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
3 monthswith no wastewater treatment contract, according to the 2024 statements
The commitments note in the 2024 statements says there were no contracts for wastewater treatment from January 2024 to March 2024, and that a new service agreement runs from April 2024 to December 2028 at $60,939 a year plus 2% a year. The Municipality published this itself. It does not say who ran the plant during the gap or how it was paid.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 1 source
$670,701actual surplus for 2024, against a budgeted $390,912
The 2023 statements show a budget deficit of $(656,964) and an actual surplus of $654,500. The 2024 statements show a budget surplus of $390,912 and an actual surplus of $670,701. The Municipality explains that its budget is not prepared the same way as the statements. Note 17 lists the adjustments, such as reserve transfers and loan principal. By area, the gaps are large: in 2024, general government was budgeted at $2,130,409 and came in at $1,275,432, and recreation and culture $1,238,515 against $536,393. Coming in under budget is not a problem in itself, so this is a note.
Found by reading the town's own documents · 3 sources
2024 tax year · St-Charles, Ontario
Enter your home's assessed value to see roughly what you pay in property tax each year, who gets it, and what St-Charles's share pays for.
Ontario still uses property values from January 1, 2016 for tax, so your assessed value is probably well below what your home would sell for today.
It is on your property assessment notice from MPAC, and on your tax bill. We filled in the typical value in St-Charles.
a year in property tax, at 2024 rates
St-Charles council sets only its own share. the Province sets the school rate.
An estimate. It uses the residential tax rate, and splits St-Charles's share by what each service cost in 2024 after its own fees and grants (for example, water bills pay for much of a water system). Real bills also depend on your property class, local charges and any rebates.
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Each number links to the public document it came from. Check it yourself.
We ask questions. Every one lists ordinary reasons a number could look odd.
Towns are only compared with places of a similar size and kind, from the same yearly reports.
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