Kawartha Lakes voters are choosing the council that will govern through rising taxes, aging infrastructure and increasingly expensive municipal services. That makes this the right time to ask a basic question: What are taxpayers getting for their money?

This series applies one test to four major areas of municipal government: What standard did council approve? How much demand did the service face? What did it cost? What happened? And if the result fell short, why?

This is analysis, not an audit. Higher spending is not automatically waste. Lower spending is not automatically efficiency. Where the public record does not answer a question, that is a reporting gap - not proof of poor performance. A Sources and Methods Appendix follows Part Four and identifies the principal public records, calculations, comparator studies and limitations used in the series.

If municipal services are performing well, the evidence should show it. If they are falling short, taxpayers should be told where, why and what will change.

PART ONE: Before taxes rise further, show taxpayers what municipal spending delivers

Kawartha Lakes has mapped out a costly decade ahead. Before residents are asked to finance it, they should be able to see what today's spending is producing.

Read Part One >>