New Financial Arrangement With The Province

The City has put forward a paper titled: "Towards a Balanced Provincial-Municipal Fiscal Relationship and Municipal Sustainability"

It is an interesting read.

As the title suggests, the city is putting forward a proposal for improved fiscal relationship with the province. There are three key areas:-

Intergovernmental Relations

Provincial Government as a User of Municipal Services

Long-term Sustainable Support to Municipalities

Essentially the city would like the Provincial Government to waive the provincial HST on goods and services the city purchases and to eliminate payroll and gas tax it charges the city.

Another proposal is for the province to pay a payment-in-lieu-of-tax to the city while the city would eliminate the Municipal Operating Grant it currently receives.

The city would also like the provincial government to obtain building permits and adhere to the city's development regulations.

In return, the city is willing to alter the infrastructure funding formula to 50/50 from its current 70/30 ratio.

The city would see a net gain of approximtely $20 - 25 million in revenue should the proposal be accepted.

No word from any of the three provincial party leaders yet, but it will be interesting to see what they have to say on the proposals.

Stay tuned!

This is the link to the report on the city's website.