Ontario municipalities push for frank talk with province on who pays for what
Steep property tax increases being proposed across the province are partly the result of Ontario offloading various costs to local governments in the 1990s, municipalities say, and it's time for a frank talk about who pays for what.
The province announced a “new deal” for Toronto late last year, in which it agreed to take over the cost of two Toronto highways to help ease the city's financial pressures, and now other communities want similar support.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario will be pushing this week at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference for a broader rethink of the provincial-municipal relationship.
“I think the 'new deal' is really encouraging because it does upload key infrastructure that was downloaded in the 1990s, but it also makes a commitment to work with the City of Toronto to take a look at the fiscal framework into 2025,” AMO executive director Brian Rosborough said in an interview.
Toronto had initially pushed for the new deal because it was facing a large budget shortfall, but that hasn't gone away. It has proposed a 10.5 per cent property tax increase, which could balloon to 16.5 per cent if the federal government doesn't reimburse costs related to support for refugee claimants, officials have said.
Many municipalities across the province - which cannot run deficits by law - are looking at high property tax increases.
“We are seeing numbers like six, seven, eight and even 10 per cent,” Rosborough said.
“That's just for 2024. We have fundamentally a systemic problem that needs to be addressed, or we'll be looking at those upper and even double-digit increases into the future as well.”
Municipalities and their taxpayers are paying for infrastructure and services that should not be their responsibility, Rosborough said, such as public health, land ambulance services, bridges and highways.
“We can draw a direct line to the property tax proposals that are being tabled today and the downloading of the 1990s,” he said.
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra said he was looking forward to talks at the conference.
“We have proven that we will always have the backs of our rural and northern municipalities when it comes to making sure they have the resources they need to support the growth we're seeing,” he wrote in a statement.
“I look forward to meeting with our partners at ROMA and discussing how our government can continue building Ontario and make sure no part of the province is left behind.”
Robin Jones, chair of the Rural Ontario Municipalities Association and mayor of Westport, Ont., said rural municipalities support AMO's push.
ROMA's focus at the conference is rural health care. The association will be releasing a research paper showing that 525,000 rural Ontario residents don't have access to primary care.
“That's an amazing amount,” Jones said in an interview.
“The other thing is ... that rural Ontarians are losing access to primary care four times faster than in urban areas. So(doctors) are retiring more often or they're leaving their practices four times as fast outside of urban centres.”
Jones said rural municipalities would like to see the province enable them to rely more heavily on health professionals such as paramedics and nurse practitioners, through expanding their scopes of practice.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal government hopes changes to dental care program will increase uptake
Less than one year after federal Liberals announced a new dental care program to mixed reviews, the government is making changes in hopes to get more providers on board.
How Canada's dream supersonic bomber became a national nightmare
The Avro Arrow meant to be one of the most advanced aircraft of its era, dispatching the threat of Soviet nuclear bombers and making Canada a world leader in military aviation and engineering.
The most devastating sleep disorder of all, according to an expert
Jill was in middle school when she began eating in her sleep. Despite carrying the food back to her bed to devour night after night, she didn’t have a clue about what she had done until the next morning.
Alice Munro's daughter says mom kept silent when stepfather sexually abused her
The youngest daughter of celebrated Canadian author Alice Munro has opened up about sexual abuse by her stepfather and the deep hurt she felt when her mother chose to support her husband instead of her child.
Inmates at large following escape from Sask. correctional centre
Police are searching for two men following an escape at a correctional centre in Yorkton, Sask.
Read the letter Biden sent to House Democrats telling them to support him in the election
U.S. President Joe Biden wants Democrats in Congress to know he has no intention of exiting this year's election, sending them a letter on Monday on his personal letterhead.
Barcelona anti-tourism protesters fire water pistols at visitors
Protesters in Barcelona have sprayed visitors with water as part of a demonstration against mass tourism.
Scorching summer heat hits Canada, remnants of hurricane Beryl on the way
Sweltering summer weather blanketed much of the country Monday, with Environment Canada issuing heat warnings for parts of eight provinces and the Northwest Territories.
3 Columbia University officials lose posts over texts that 'touched on ancient antisemitic tropes'
Columbia University said Monday that it has removed three administrators from their positions and will keep them on leave indefinitely after finding that text messages they exchanged during a campus discussion about Jewish life 'disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes.'