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by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date.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 Terrace Bay'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 · 2025
How Terrace Bay compares with similar towns
Is Terrace Bay 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 2025 return): 24 towns with between 938 and 2,201 people.
How to read this. Each grey dot is one similar town. The large dot is Terrace Bay, and the line marked "typical" is the town in the middle. The label and colour say where Terrace Bay 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 Northwestern Ontario include Alberton, Emo, Machin.
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.
$8,289Higher than 24 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $4,936
typical
$0$8,289
Town property tax
The town's own share of property tax, divided by the number of homes.
$4,902Higher than 23 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $3,351
typical
$0$4,902+
Running the town office
Council, managers, office staff and the town hall, per home.
$1,751Higher than 23 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $968
typical
$0$1,751+
Council
Council pay, expenses and meetings, per home.
$140Higher than 18 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $96
typical
$0$461+
Roads and snow
Per home. Towns with many kilometres of rural road spend more.
$1,070Higher than 13 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $1,042
typical
$0$1,760+
Snow ploughing
Per home.
$237Higher than 19 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $142
typical
$0$391+
Police, fire and safety
Per home.
$656Lower than 14 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $671
typical
$0$1,146+
Fire department
Per home.
$252Higher than 14 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $240
typical
$0$478+
Police
Per home. Most small Ontario towns pay the OPP under the same province-wide formula.
$358Higher than 14 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $342
typical
$0$667+
Water, sewers and garbage
Per home.
$1,463Higher than 21 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $886
typical
$0$1,659+
Garbage, dump and recycling
Per home.
$565Higher than 22 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $267
typical
$0$977+
Parks, arena and library
Per home.
$2,118Higher than 24 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $503
typical
$0$2,118
Planning and business
Per home.
$706Higher than 23 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $63
typical
$0$706+
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.
74%Higher than 14 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 68%
typical
14%131%+
Savings (reserves)
Money set aside for repairs and emergencies, per home. More is safer.
$6,157Higher than 23 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $3,304
typical
$0$6,157+
Long-term debt
What the town still owes on long-term loans, per home.
$788Higher than 12 of 24 similar towns. Typical: $788
typical
$0$8,680+
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.
11%Higher than 17 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 10%
typical
5.8%18%+
Share spent running the office
Out of every dollar spent, how much goes to running the town office.
21%Higher than 14 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 21%
typical
15%26%+
How worn out things are
How much of the value of roads, pipes and buildings has already been used up. Higher means older.
47%Lower than 17 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 51%
typical
37%69%+
How fast costs are growing
Growth over five years (2020 to 2025), 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.
4%Lower than 18 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 5%
typical
2.2%9.0%+
Property tax growth, 5 years
How much the town's own property tax grew over five years.
15%Lower than 21 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 24%
typical
9.8%74%+
Spending growth, 5 years
How much day-to-day spending grew over five years.
14%Lower than 24 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 31%
typical
14%77%+
Office cost growth, 5 years
How much the cost of running the town office grew over five years.
26%Higher than 13 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 25%
typical
−2.5%69%+
Council cost growth, 5 years
How much council costs grew over five years.
−8%Lower than 18 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 27%
typical
−47%119%+
Parks and arena cost growth, 5 years
How much parks, arena and library costs grew over five years.
41%Lower than 14 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 44%
typical
8.2%165%+
Roads cost growth, 5 years
How much road and snow costs grew over five years.
11%Lower than 19 of 24 similar towns. Typical: 31%
typical
3.2%121%+
Source: Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 2025, all 25 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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