Ontario municipal budgets in limbo without news about provincial funding

Municipalities across Ontario are having to do guesswork on budgets this year because they don't know how much money they can get from the province.

The City of Windsor is holding off for at least another month before putting a budget before council.

Each year, municipalities get notices from the province about the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund in late fall. Those notices have not been given out yet. 

In 2018, the City of Windsor received almost $23 million, which mayor Drew Dilkens said makes up 6 per cent of the budget.

The city has already received $6 million but Dilkens said there's "no commitment towards the rest."

Dilkens said without the remaining $17 million, the city would need to use money from the city's reserves or it could mean potentially a 4 per cent tax hike for taxpayers.

Over at the Town of Lakeshore, the town projected a $60,000 decrease in OMPF money — something mayor Tom Bain said could lead to pulling the plug on some projects.

"It's not a large amount of our budget, but it's something we'll have to look at possibly cutting out some type of infrastructure program or some program that we have on the books to do," said Bain.

If the town moves forward with the project even with the funding cut, that money will come out of reserves or via taxes, just like in Windsor.

OMPF helps fund services

Lakeshore is not the only place projecting a decrease from the province. Town of Essex passed its operating budget Monday night, which forecasted a $846,250 reduction in OMPF money.

In 2018, the Town of Essex received $4.2 million. Due to the forecasted reduction this year, mayor Larry Snively said the town has had to pull back on roadwork.

According to Gary McNamara, Tecumseh mayor and vice president of the Association of Municipalities Ontario, the provincial funds have been built into each municipality's budget for years.

He said that rural and northern municipalities are "the most vulnerable."

"Those OMPF dollars are there to help offset social services and certainly their Ontario Works programs, policing costs, et cetera," he said.

Provincial review

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance said in an email that "growth and transfer payments were noted to be key contributors to the province's mounting debt."

The ministry is reviewing the OMPF and looking for ways to renew the program, the email reads. Details on allocations will be released "in the near future."

McNamara said while he understands the province's position, the "real culprit" isn't transfers from the OMPF because they make up a small amount.

In 2018, the province gave out $510 million across the board under OMPF.

McNamara said if the province still wants to make cuts to OMPF, they should roll it out slowly over several years.

"You cannot ask municipalities to pick up the whole thing in one budget year, doesn't make sense. That's going to be extremely hard for municipalities," he said.