Cities To Get ‘Surplus’ Cash From Province
Posted March 12, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto boosters have long pleaded for additional monetary attention from the Ontario government, and if the province’s finance minister has his way, the city, along with hundreds of other municipalities in Ontario, may finally get it.
Queen’s Park now appears to be considering the idea of flowing additional millions into Toronto’s roads and transit systems through a new bill, something Dwight Duncan (pictured, centre) acknowledged openly Wednesday.
“The bill would give the province the flexibility to invest more dollars in our communities during times of moderate economic growth,” he said.
Of course, like many other government programs there are strings attached, and the money will only come if the economy is strong and there’s a significant provincial surplus. Toronto’s share under an estimated $2 billion surplus would be just $40 million.
Meanwhile Toronto budget officials are already projecting the city will be $1 million in the hole when it comes to its road repair budget. And it’s only March.
Still, Toronto City Councillor and Budget Chief Shelley Carroll (pictured, right) sees the silver lining.
“We need to get on with our libraries and our community centres, our roads … transit is ever growing, so we have all of the same sorts of needs, so this is good news for every municipality,” she insisted.
But because the surplus will shift every year, critics of the proposed bill charge that it’s unstable, unreliable and won’t add up to much in terms of the bottom line.
“If he was aggressive, if he was real in terms of his wanting to help municipalities it wouldn’t be a one-time shot at the end of this year that may or may not happen in subsequent years,” griped NDP MPP Michael Prue.
Others argue that more money for cities means less for provincial debt, which currently stands at roughly $163 billion.
To see CityNews Political Specialist Richard Madan‘s story on the proposed bill, click on the video link.
