Premier Doug Ford assured more than a thousand mayors, councillors and city staff members on Monday that he has heard their concerns and understands they are struggling to fund public services.
But municipal leaders say the province is ignoring their calls for an overhaul of the way cities, towns and countries are funded while leaving them to “take the heat” over increasing property taxes.
"We have heard the concerns shared by our rural municipal partners about the financial challenges they face when delivering essential services to their growing populations," said Ford while speaking at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference in Toronto on Monday.
Ford said the province addressed these concerns during the recent Fall Economic Statement by increasing the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund by $100 million to help small and rural municipalities "provide the services their residents deserve."
But municipalities leaders at the conference are continuing to call for a new financial arrangement with the province that would provide them with adequate and reliable funding, rather than the current system relying on property taxes, user fees, and provincial operational and grant funding.
Woodstock Mayor Jerry Acchione — who met with government ministers at the conference yesterday to get the province to release promised funding Woodstock plans to use to build a new homeless shelter — said the current funding arrangement of municipalities does not account for modern demands.
"Every department in the city and the county could use more funds," Acchione told The Trillium.
"Modernizing the entire system should be looked at. There are definitely needs at municipal levels that were never (under) pressures even a few years ago. With the new responsibilities of municipalities, the province can certainly help us out more. And I would also call out the federal government to help us out more."
With an early election likely to be called in the next several weeks, ROMA and its counterpart, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), want municipal funding reform to become a campaign issue.
"We are still calling for the fiscal arrangement between the province and municipalities to be re-examined ... we have been calling for this for over a year," said ROMA chair and Mississippi Mills Mayor Christa Lowry.
ROMA and AMO are arguing that the current funding model is "broken.” They calculate that municipalities are spending $5 billion more than they receive in provincial operating grants on issues such as social services, health care, and housing support — which they consider to be provincial responsibilities.
They also note that municipal revenues have not kept up with the high rates of inflation over the past few years.
"All of our communities are having these same problems: we don't have the money we need for infrastructure, we are being leaned on heavier and heavier to fill the $5-billion gap (to pay for) provincial responsibilities — not our responsibilities," Lowry said.
"Municipalities are not meant to be solving the health care crisis that is happening or the addiction issues,” she added.
At the conference on Monday, AMO and ROMA called for increased infrastructure funding that keeps pace with costs and doesn’t replace development charges on new construction with increased property taxes.
The municipal organizations are also calling for measures that will decrease reliance on property taxes, such as increasing long-term care and public health funding, so the entire cost of meeting provincial standards is covered.
They also called for more effective action on homelessness, which would bring down many costs facing cities and towns.
Requests for a conversation on reform have been ignored by the PC government, AMO’s director of policy Lindsay Jones told delegates.
“The lack of response from the provincial government to date has been surprising,” Jones said. “Is it really possible the provincial government won't sit down with the municipal sector to discuss our $68-billion annual investment in the Ontario economy?”
The PCs have negotiated new deals with both Toronto and Ottawa for millions of dollars in additional provincial funding. But when asked whether it was time for a new deal for municipalities, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy noted the province has already increased its funding to municipalities by 45 per cent over the past five years.
During a speech to delegates on Monday, Municipal Affairs Minister Paul Calandra said the province is “exploring new, fairer and more sustainable ways to fund critical infrastructure without burning homebuyers.”
But during a Q&A session with municipal leaders, Lowry asked Calandra if he would commit to meeting with ROMA and AMO about reform.
Bethlenfalvy fielded the question, but did not promise there would be any meeting, saying only that “it’s important to continue the dialogue to understand where the pressures are.”
“We are listening to some of the challenges,” insisted Bethlenflavy.
Opposition parties have been much more receptive to the calls for reform.
The NDP promised a new deal for municipalities during last year’s ROMA conference, and in November, the party hired former Toronto mayor David Miller as a "special adviser" to develop those agreements.
While mayor in 2007, Miller spearheaded a campaign that called on upper levels of government to give cities one cent of sales tax on every taxable dollar.
During her speech to delegates on Monday, NDP Leader Marit Stiles promised municipalities that the NDP's new deal will "usher in a new era of respect and partnership."
“The struggles you’re facing because of provincial downloading is unfair and you deserve a lot better than what you’re getting, " said Stiles.
"It starts with taking back provincial responsibilities in housing, public health and infrastructure like roads and highways.”
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie is also expected to promise municipalities a new deal when she addresses the conference on Tuesday morning.
Ford also noted during his speech Monday that the government has moved to address concerns expressed by small and rural communities that they are not able to pay for their rising policing bills from the Ontario Provincial Police.
Ford said the province promised in November to provide $77 million in "financial relief" to help municipalities that use the OPP to "offset the increased cost of police services."
Ontario Big City Mayor Caucus chair and Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward argued that funding is good for small communities that use the OPP, but larger cities also need help to keep up with ballooning policing bills.
"I can tell you this is something that is already being discussed informally among the mayors," she told reporters on Monday.
"The Halton Region Police budget increase was 14.2 per cent this year. Peel Region is coming in at a 24 per cent increase. These are unsustainable on the property tax base. So we need help too."
