Pettapiece supports bill on gas tax revenues

A local MPP says fairness for rural municipalities - long shut out of provincial gas tax revenues - is one step closer after a March 7 vote in the Ontario legislature.

By a vote of 40-25, MPPs voted to support Bill 3, An Act to amend the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act, with respect to matching rebates of gasoline tax that the province provides to municipalities.

Before becoming law, the Progressive Conservative bill must be examined by an all-party committee and come back to the legislature for a final vote.

Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece was pleased by the result.

“By introducing and supporting this bill, the PC caucus is standing up for rural and small-town Ontario. I was very pleased to be in the legislature to vote for it,” Pettapiece said in a March 8 press release.

The current system primarily benefits large, urban municipalities, says Pettapiece.

Many rural municipalities, because they have no transit systems, are left out from receiving gas tax revenues, he stated.

In Perth-Wellington, the Town of Minto and the townships of Mapleton, Wellington North and Perth South “are all left out from receiving their share of the gas tax,” he said.  states the release.

“Our roads and bridges are our public transit systems, and we need our fair share to keep them properly maintained.”