Provincial downloading will increase cities' costs, mayors warn

Call for delaying budget cuts until 2020 to give time for talks with municipalities

(File)

The mayors of the biggest cities in Ontario – including Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger – are calling on the Conservative government to delay parts of the Ontario budget until talks with municipalities take place.

Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie, chair of the Large Urban Mayor’s Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO) released a statement Tuesday warning the impact on cities will mean millions in new costs that will mean service cuts or property tax increases.

“Big-city mayors from across Ontario are extremely concerned that the Government of Ontario is engaging in downloading by stealth — implementing funding and governance changes to municipalities without any consultation, after cities have already approved our budgets,” the statement reads.

“This amounts to millions of dollars per year in funding reductions to vital, front-line services including public health, policing, library services, child care, tourism, and flood management. This is on top of a cap on Ontario gas tax funding and ongoing uncertainty with major changes to ambulance services. The Government of Ontario is effectively forcing municipalities to consider tax increases or service cuts to absorb the download in services it has proposed.”

Finance Minister Fedeli said the government would not raise taxes, the mayors say, and the budget says changes and costs need to be sustainable for both local and provincial governments.

“There is only one taxpayer,” the statement says. “It is disingenuous to say that the changes are sustainable, if municipalities are left to consider how to make up the shortfalls.”

Municipalities are being notified of the changes in a “piecemeal fashion,” after municipal budgets have already been passed, the statement said, giving cities no opportunity to find ways to absorb the costs.

The mayors hope it won't take a big controversy, such as the one that led to changes in autism funding, for the province to respond.

“We question why it takes an outcry before we are heard,” the statement said. “Municipalities are simply asking to be consulted beforehand, so that we can work alongside the province on changes that are in the best interests of the taxpayers we represent.

“We support the province’s efforts to get its budget deficit under control. But it cannot do so on the backs of local taxpayers, without consultation.”

So the mayors are asking the province to postpone the funding cuts to at least 2020, “to allow for proper discussion with municipalities and local residents.

“We call on the Government of Ontario to be transparent about its intentions and engage with cities before downloading more services,” the statement said.

“Residents have begun to pay their taxes, which have been set locally after many months of consultations with residents about the services they want their local governments to provide and how much they are willing to pay for them.”

The mayors have invited Premier Doug Ford and Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark to the next LUMCO meeting, “so that we can sit down together to find a better way forward for all Ontarians.”

LUMCO includes mayors of 28 single and lower-tier cities with a population of 100,000 or more, amounting to 67 per cent of Ontario’s population.

List of LUMCO Mayors: