Hangover

The municipality bulked up for boom times that never came

In 2015, just a dozen municipal employees earned $100,000 or more. Last year, 92 folks did, according to the Public Sector Salary Disclosure listing published last week.

Of course, $100,000 in 2015 isn’t the same as 2025. Even when adjusted for inflation to 2015 dollars, the number of municipal employees earning $136,000 (the equivalent of $100,000 today) or more has doubled over the past 10 years. The population of the County, however, hasn’t doubled. Nor has the demand for municipal services. Expectations were raised, but the much heralded population growth boom never materialized.

The County employs about 220 folks, nearly half of whom earned enough to make the Salary Disclosure List last year.

By comparison, Quinte West reports that 77 employees were paid over $100,000 last year. In Brant County—a closer comparable—106 employees made the list in 2024 (the most recent report available).

At least five of the big earners on the County’s listing are no longer employed by the County.

Collectively, the 92 municipal employees who made the list earned $12 million last year. Their compensation consumed almost 15 per cent of the County’s operating budget last year.

It is not as though the County is in vibrant financial health. It finished the year with a deficit of $3 million, according to a report from the County’s finance director to the audit committee this week.

Meanwhile, the County’s only other meaningful source of revenue is drying up. Building fees, development charges, and connection charges in 2026 are tracking at about a quarter of last year’s pace. Building won’t save the County’s finances.