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Warden says Municipal Funding Needs to Change

Thursday, 25 January 2024 11:25

By Marcie Culbert X @marcieculbert

Photo Credit: Oxford County website

Oxford County Council is now backing the Association of Municipalities of Ontario as it advocates with the province to find a new way to pay for essential services like affordable housing.

OXFORD COUNTY - Oxford County Council would like the province to change the way municipalities are funded.

Warden Marcus Ryan says the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) is advocating with the province to try to find a different way to fund essential services such as affordable housing and mental health and addiction services.

"It's hard to fund the housing gap when your main source of funding is by taxing properties, which by definition you have a housing gap because you don't have enough properties. So we're funding a thing by the wrong taxation method."

He adds the taxes that the federal and provincial governments collect such as income, sales, and corporate tax would be better suited to fund these services.

Oxford County passed a 16.7 percent increase to the tax levy for 2024, which included funding for affordable housing, homelessness response, and more. Warden Ryan says we're not alone, adding lots of other municipalities have also had to consider double-digit tax rate increases.

He says something needs to change.

"So the way municipalities are funded in 2024 is not appropriate anymore. It's a 150-year-old tax system that has never been evolved properly to deal with the pressures that municipal governments and our residents experience today. So we need to change that."

Oxford County Council unanimously supported a letter from Warden Ryan yesterday, asking council to support AMO's advocacy efforts.

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