Sources and method

Where this comes from

Everything on these pages comes from public documents. Here they are, with how we used them, so anyone can check our work.

Documents

1. Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR)

   Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The numbers behind the money and compare pages: 2019 to 2024 for Stirling-Rawdon, and 2024 for 65 similar towns. Figures are what the municipality reported to the Province for each year, prepared on the same basis as its audited financial statements.

2. Township of Stirling-Rawdon, council remuneration and expense statements

   Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

   What each council member was paid, and spent on benefits and expenses, 2022 to 2025. One statement a year; the link is the latest, and the council page links each year.

3. Township of Stirling-Rawdon, budget documents

   Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The town’s published budgets. Used to check its plans against what it reported.

4. 2026 Budget booklet (February 4, 2026)

   Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The line-by-line 2026 budget, with 2024 and 2025 actuals and the town’s notes, plus the treasurer’s statement and provincial notices.

5. 2026 Budget update (February 17, 2026)

   Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The CAO’s update after council’s February 3 review: levy changes, the reserve list at the end of 2025, and the debt table.

6. 2025 Budget overview

   Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

   A six-page summary of the 2025 budget by service.

7. 2024 Budget presentation

   Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The public presentation of the 2024 budget, including the bridge estimate.

8. 2023 Budget overview, public meeting

   Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

   The 2023 budget presentation, including the 2023 levy and debt payments.

9. Council Statement of Remuneration and Expenses for 2023

   Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

   Council pay and expenses for 2023.

10. Council Statement of Remuneration and Expenses for 2022

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Council pay and expenses for 2022.

11. Audited financial statements, 2023

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Statements for 2023, audited by Baker Tilly KDN LLP.

12. Audited financial statements, 2022

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Statements for 2022, audited by Baker Tilly KDN LLP.

13. Audited financial statements, 2021

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Statements for 2021, audited by Baker Tilly KDN LLP.

14. Council agenda package, July 7, 2026

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the revised 2024 consolidated financial statements, the engineering award for Belleville Road and the June 16, 2026 minutes.

15. Council agenda package, March 17, 2026

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the 2024 financial statements as first presented, the 2025 council remuneration statement and the 2025 salary disclosure report.

16. Council agenda package, May 5, 2026

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the CAO’s report on September 2025 to April 2026 and the grader lease payout.

17. Council agenda package, February 17, 2026

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the 2026 water and wastewater budget and the rate study and financial plan by Watson & Associates.

18. Council agenda package, March 3, 2026

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the minutes of the February 17, 2026 special meeting that approved the 2026 levy.

19. Council agenda package, September 15, 2025

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the staff report on three replacement bridges.

20. Council agenda package, August 4, 2026

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the Integrity Commissioner’s annual report.

21. Council agenda package, January 13, 2026

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the non-union pay policy that covers council pay.

22. Council agenda package, February 20, 2024

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the February 13, 2024 committee minutes on the 2024 draft budget.

23. Council agenda package, May 6, 2024

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes By-law 23-24 for the downtown project loan.

24. Council agenda package, December 16, 2024

    Township of Stirling-Rawdon · retrieved 2026-10-01

    Includes the auditor’s presentation of the 2023 statements and By-law 65-24.

25. Province of Ontario, Financial Information Return

    Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing · retrieved 2026-10-01

    The Province’s yearly returns, which feed the automatic questions.

26. Statistics Canada, Consumer Price Index, annual average (table 18-10-0005-01)

    Statistics Canada · retrieved 2026-10-01

    How much prices went up each year, so cost growth can be compared with inflation.

How the numbers are worked out

Day-to-day spending

Total expenses as reported, minus amortization ("wear and tear"), which is an accounting cost rather than cash spent that year. Costs are shown in the service where they were recorded, before the town spreads its office overhead across services, so the cost of running the office stays visible.

Per home

An amount divided by the number of households the town reported to the Province for that year.

Similar towns

Ontario lower-tier municipalities with 60% to 160% of this population that had filed their 2024 return, in 2024. This gives 65 towns. "Typical" means the median: half of similar towns are above it and half below. The size limits are a judgement call; moving them a little adds or drops a few towns, so treat small differences in rank as noise. Per-home figures use the household counts each town reports to the Province. Towns do not all count the same way: some include seasonal homes, so per-home comparisons are a guide, not exact.

Faster than prices

Growth is compared with Canada's Consumer Price Index over the same years.

When a question is raised automatically

When a cost grew at least 25 percentage points faster than prices and faster than 80% of similar towns; when a measure of money health is worse than 80% of similar towns; or when a one-year tax increase is higher than 80% of similar towns and well above inflation. "Needs an answer" means worse than 90% of similar towns. When there are fewer than 20 similar towns, automatic questions go no higher than "Worth asking", because one rank moves a lot in a small group.

Checked against the audited statements

For 2024 we compared the Province’s figures with the town’s audited consolidated statements (Baker Tilly KDN LLP, clean opinion, signed March 19, 2026; revised version approved July 7, 2026). Cash ($2,812,099), taxes receivable ($1,695,952), long-term debt ($5,653,925), the landfill and asbestos closing-cost liability ($3,633,600) and property tax revenue ($6,983,512) match to the dollar. Net financial position differs by $1,298 (Province -$7,047,414; statements -$7,046,116) and the yearly surplus by $1,296 (Province $1,138,015; statements $1,139,311). We do not know why. The statements.

What this cannot see

These records show totals by category, not individual payments. They cannot show whether a particular contract was fair, whether a purchase was split to avoid tendering, or who was paid. That needs the town's list of payments (its cheque register or accounts payable list), which residents can ask for under Ontario's freedom-of-information law (MFIPPA). That is the next thing we plan to add.