The Town of Whitby is once again urging the province to update and realign the funding system between provincial and municipal governments – which Mayor Elizabeth Roy described as a “19th-century framework, working with 21st-century problems” – to ensure that municipal revenues match the actual costs of modern service delivery and growth.
“We need to have a discussion on who does what and who pays for what,” Roy stated at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting. “We can no longer continue doing what we’ve been doing – the downloading of costs from public health to social services to childcare to police services at the region and everything else that is coming down on us.”
Since the province started shifting once provincial responsibilities onto municipal taxpayers, nearly one third of all municipal spending in Ontario now goes toward services that are technically under provincial jurisdiction, with expenses outpacing provincial contributions by about $4 billion each year. This includes at least $1.5 billion annually spent by municipalities specifically on social housing.
Proposals aimed at reducing or capping development charges aren’t helping either; they transfer costs away from new developments onto existing property taxpayers, jeopardizing municipalities’ ability to fund crucial infrastructure.
Furthermore, revenues related to housing from the province-like $5.8 billion in land transfer tax revenues (2021/22) and billions in HST revenue from new home construction-aren’t shared with municipalities, even though they stem from housing activities that require significant local infrastructure investment.
“The gaps in funding have been there for many years,” Roy noted. “The red flags are no longer there – we are there now.”
Whitby is joining forces with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) to call on the provincial government to allocate some housing-related revenues back to municipalities, providing a “predictable, growth-linked revenue stream” necessary for supporting housing goals and expanding essential public infrastructure while addressing the financial impacts of changes in development charges.
This isn’t the first time Whitby has urged a review of this fiscal framework, as regional councillor Rhonda Mulcahy pointed out that they reached out to Queen’s Park about this issue two years ago. “Nothing happened,” she remarked.
“It’s not going away and it’s not getting better (so) there is a need to call upon them again. We have to ring the doorbell again.”
The committee members voted unanimously in favor of a motion urging the province to collaborate with AMO and Ontario Big City Mayors on a comprehensive Social and Economic Prosperity Review of the provincial-municipal fiscal framework. This would enable municipalities to manage significant growth-related infrastructure like roads, transit, water, sewer, fire services, and parks without putting too much strain on local taxpayers.
The motion also states that this review must “specifically address” the $4 billion annual gap where municipal property taxes currently cover provincial responsibilities such as social housing, health care, and transit systems; it also highlights the $1.5 billion annual burden placed on municipalities due solely to downloading social housing costs by the province.
The motion will be presented for a full council vote on March 9.
Whitby Town Hall
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Whitby is joining forces with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) to call on the provincial government to allocate some housing-related revenues back to municipalities, providing a “predictable, growth-linked revenue stream” necessary for supporting housing goals and expanding essential public infrastructure while addressing the financial impacts of changes in development charges.
This isn’t the first time Whitby has urged a review of this fiscal framework, as regional councillor Rhonda Mulcahy pointed out that they reached out to Queen’s Park about this issue two years ago. “Nothing happened,” she remarked.
“It’s not going away and it’s not getting better (so) there is a need to call upon them again. We have to ring the doorbell again.”
The committee members voted unanimously in favor of a motion urging the province to collaborate with AMO and Ontario Big City Mayors on a comprehensive Social and Economic Prosperity Review of the provincial-municipal fiscal framework. This would enable municipalities to manage significant growth-related infrastructure like roads, transit, water, sewer, fire services, and parks without putting too much strain on local taxpayers.
The motion also states that this review must “specifically address” the $4 billion annual gap where municipal property taxes currently cover provincial responsibilities such as social housing, health care, and transit systems; it also highlights the $1.5 billion annual burden placed on municipalities due solely to downloading social housing costs by the province.
The motion will be presented for a full council vote on March 9.
Whitby Town Hall
INsauga’s Editorial Standards and Policies
Last 30 Days: 75,335 Votes
All Time: 1,225,613 Votes
1044 VOTES
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