Norfolk Mayor Amy Martin will be asking councilors to support a call to the province to ease the financial burden on municipalities.
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Martin introduced a notice of motion at a council-in-committee meeting on Tuesday asking the Ontario government to commit to working with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) to conduct a “comprehensive social and economic prosperity review to promote the stability and sustainability of municipal finances across Ontario.”
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The motion will be voted on at a meeting later this month.
“AMO is lobbying for this,” said Martin. “I thought it was really interesting and really timely on the heels of our budget as we see so many provincial downloads coming forward.”
Martin’s notice of motion says nearly a third of municipal spending in Ontario is for services in the areas of provincial responsibility, and expenditures are outpacing provincial contributions by nearly $4 billion a year.
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Martin said expenditures downloaded by the province are typically on social service-related programs, housing, long-term care, and childcare.
She also noted other downloads, including a $400,000 cost for stormwater management that has been added to Norfolk’s 2024 operating budget.
“(AMO) is making an effort to close that gap in funding because they recognize that municipalities have one funding source, which is property taxes, and that doesn’t grow with inflation,” said Martin.
AMO says “Ontario is facing increasingly complex challenges, such as tackling homelessness and climate change, without the financial tools to solve them.
“It’s time for the province and municipalities to work collaboratively towards solutions for the long-term stability and sustainability of municipal finances.”
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The organization, which represents Ontario’s 444 municipalities, has called on Premier Doug Ford to propose an update of the partnership between provincial and municipal governments.
It says a social and economic prosperity review would help to create a “sustainable, accountable provincial-municipal relationship where both orders of government can meet their responsibilities.”
“Inflation, rising interest rates and provincial policy decisions are sharply constraining municipal fiscal policy,” says Martin’s motion. “Property taxpayers, including people on fixed incomes and small businesses, can’t afford to subsidize income re-distribution programs for those most in need.”
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