Centre Wellington Mayor and County Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj was at Queen’s Park last week to lobby the province to stop major municipal grant cuts.
County wardens and mayors from the 15-member Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus met recently with provincial cabinet ministers to stress the importance of the province continuing to provide necessary grant support to municipalities so that their financial and economic health will not be further jeopardized.
The meeting was prompted by the provincial plan to discontinue a grant given to eligible municipalities under the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund [OMPF].
The elimination of that special assistance funding would adversely affect 172 municipalities across the province who would suffer an overall loss of more than $70-million in grant funding. Centre Wellington would take one of the biggest cash reductions.
Ross-Zuj was the spokesman for the group, and stressed that the province needs to continue to aid municipalities.
The OMPF funding is at risk because of a provincial review of all of its expenditures as the province moves to address its budget deficit. For many years, municipalities relied on consistent provincial funding that was used to support the cost of providing important local services.
The OMPF grant is viewed by the wardens’ caucus as a strong reflection of the partnership the province has with municipalities that bear the cost of implementing many provincially-legislated programs and regulations.
As well, the caucus members are firmly convinced municipalities and the province have come too far together to allow approximately $70-million to sour that partnership.
In 2008, the province announced it would be gradually taking back the cost of specific social programs from municipalities without requiring municipalities to take on any new responsibilities in the process.
Municipalities receiving special assistance grants under the OMPF took that announcement to mean that they would not lose their funding.
If the province chooses to cut the grants, many municipalities will have to consider various options such as tax hikes, job cuts and service reductions in order to meet their financial shortfall. In Centre Wellington’s case, the $1.4-million reduction could mean more than a 7% tax increase.
The wardens’ caucus has encouraged the Ontario government to continue its dialogue with its municipal partners to find a mutually agreeable solution so that 172 municipalities will not be significantly disadvantaged.
Ross-Zuj said in an interview Perth-Wellington MPP and Revenue Minister John Wilkinson told her there are “winners and losers” when it comes to the grant.
That prompted her to issue a province-wide press release detailing the plight of the 172 municipalities that ended up on the losing side. She said the wardens’ caucus members have encouraged her to keep lobbying.
Ross-Zuj said Centre Wellington is losing its grant because Fergus lost its rural status. The town’s population qualified the township for a grant, but the federal census added the populations of Elora, Salem and Belwood to that of Fergus, and the province used the total population figures to decided it is no longer a rural area.
The township’s population is close to 30,000, the same as Orangeville’s, and the province is treating Centre Wellington like it would that centre.
The problem, Ross-Zuj pointed out to the cabinet ministers, is Orangeville has about 20 square kilometres of town compared to Centre Wellington’s 407. As well, Centre Wellington has 105 bridges and 400km of roads, far more than Orangeville.
