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 2025 for The South Bruce Peninsula, and 2025 for 47 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. Town of The South Bruce Peninsula, budget documents

   Town of The South Bruce Peninsula · retrieved 2026-10-01

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

3. The Corporation of the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 (MNP LLP, September 1, 2026)

   Town of South Bruce Peninsula (auditor: MNP LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2025. Clean opinion. 34 PDF pages.

4. The Corporation of the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, Financial Information, December 31, 2024 (MNP LLP, September 12, 2025)

   Town of South Bruce Peninsula (auditor: MNP LLP) · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Audited statements for 2024. Clean opinion. 42 PDF pages.

5. Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation v. The Town of South Bruce Peninsula et al., Costs Endorsement, 2024 ONSC 2827 (May 21, 2024)

   Superior Court of Justice (Ontario), posted by the Town · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The court's ruling on who pays the costs of the first phase of the Sauble Beach land claim trial.

6. Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation v. South Bruce Peninsula (Town), 2024 ONCA 884 (December 9, 2024)

   Court of Appeal for Ontario, posted by the Town · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The appeal decision. We used only the part on costs (Issue #5).

7. Media release: Town of South Bruce Peninsula Reviews Ontario Court of Appeal Decision Regarding Sauble Beach Land Claim (January 10, 2025)

   Town of South Bruce Peninsula · retrieved 2026-10-05

   The Town's own account of the appeal decision and what comes next.

8. Sauble Beach Land Claim (the Town's page)

   Town of South Bruce Peninsula · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Lists the court documents and media releases. Page last updated: September 1, 2026.

9. By-Law Number 25-2026, a By-Law to Provide for the Remuneration Paid to Members of Council

   Town of South Bruce Peninsula · retrieved 2026-10-05

   Sets council pay from January 1, 2027.

10. Attachment One: 2027 Budget Schedule

    Town of South Bruce Peninsula · retrieved 2026-10-05

    A one-page schedule, headed as a proposed schedule going to a regular council meeting, with the 2027 dates beside last year's approved dates.

11. 2024 Annual Report of the Integrity Commissioner (and the 2023 report)

    Integrity Commissioner, for the Town · retrieved 2026-10-05

    A one-page yearly summary of the Commissioner's work and billing.

12. Elections (the Town's election page)

    Town of South Bruce Peninsula · retrieved 2026-10-05

    Key dates for the 2026 municipal election, including the close of voting.

13. 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 2025 return, in 2025. This gives 47 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.

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.