LEEDS-GRENVILLE MUNICIPALITIES TO
TAKE HUGE FINANCIAL HIT
BROCKVILLE - The largest municipalities
in Leeds-Grenville will lose millions of dollars
in provincial funding under the new Ontario
Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) program announced
by the Ontario government, says Leeds-Grenville
MPP Bob Runciman.
“I am absolutely shocked by the numbers,”
said Runciman. “This government is shifting
the burden of social services more and more
onto the backs of property taxpayers and our
largest municipalities are going to be faced
with imposing huge tax increases to meet these
costs.”
OMPF was announced recently to replace the
Community Reinvestment Fund that was designed
to compensate municipalities for the additional
costs of providing social services such as Ontario
Works, Ontario Disability Support Program, ambulance
and police services.
Under the new funding formula, the United Counties
of Leeds-Grenville, for example, will see provincial
funding support drop from $4.1 million in 2004
to $777,310 in 2008 with decreases every year
in between. A capping process may mitigate the
effect initially but Steve Fournier, CAO for
the counties, agrees the figures presented reflect
what he has been told.
The City of Brockville will see its provincial
support, $3.3 million in 2004, decrease annually
to $1.86 million in 2008. Elizabethtown-Kitley,
Augusta, and Merrickville-Wolford also face
substantial decreases in provincial funding
over the next three years. Some municipalities
will gain under the formula but there are more
losers than winners and the United Counties
and Brockville represent about 85 per cent of
local funding for these programs.
“Municipalities have been expecting increased
support for these programs under this government,”
said Runciman. “Now that details of the
OMPF have been revealed, they are finding that
they have been misled.”
Runciman says a better picture of the ramifications
of the new program will be available once the
various municipalities have been able to work
through their own figures.
Media Contact:
Don Swayne
Executive Assistant
(613) 342-9522
