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Five municipalities in Bruce County are working together to
mitigate the financial hardship they will face with the loss of
funding from the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund next year.
Kincardine, Huron-Kinloss, South Bruce, Northern Bruce Peninsula,
and Arran-Elderslie will see a combined reduction of more than $2
million if the special one-time assistance is removed from the fund
at a time when the province has worked diligently to stimulate the
economy, states a letter, addressed to finance minister Dwight
Duncan and signed by the mayor of each municipality.
"In order to measure the real impact to our five municipalities, I
(we) have listed the amount of tax rate increase we would need to
pass on to our residents in order to mitigate the loss of funding in
the 2010 Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund," states the letter.
*Kincardine would lose $621,100 in funding, forcing a tax
increase of 12%
*Huron-Kinloss would lose $647,500 and would face a tax increase of
17%
*Arran-Elderslie would lose $269,800, forcing a tax increase of 9%
*South Bruce would lose $269,300 and would see a tax increase of 12%
*Northern Bruce Peninsula would lose $251,800 and would see a tax
increase of 7%
The municipalities are calling on the province to red-circle the
Municipal Partnership funding total for 2009 and gradually reduce it
over time through the impact of inflation; or if the financial pressures
of the province are significant, reduce the special one-time assistance
in the fund by equal installments over a five-year period.
Kincardine council is debating the issue at its meeting tonight (Oct.
21).
Huron-Kinloss council discussed the issue at its meeting Monday night
(Oct. 19). In addition to the proposed funding loss in the partnership
fund, the township has come up $40,000 short because of a property
classification error by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.
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Council has agreed to forward a letter to the finance
minister, noting that there is a provincial funding
shortfall because about 25 properties were improperly
classed as residential rather than farmland on the 2009
returned roll. The mistake is being rectified, said
treasurer Jodi MacArthur. However, it means a difference of
about $4 million in assessment that was classed as
residential but will now be classed as farmland.
Because municipalities set their residential tax rate based
on the returned roll, converting residential assessment to
farmland results in a 75-per-cent reduction in the amount of
taxes collected, said MacArthur. This results in a write-off
to the municipality of more than $14,000.
Not only does the township bear the cost of adjusting the
assessment on those properties, they were also not included
in the calculation of the farmland and managed forest
assessment grant component of the Ontario Municipal
Partnership Fund calculation, MacArthur said. An increase to
the returned roll of more than $4 million in farmland
assessment would have increased the township's grant
entitlement by almost $25,000. Council has asked the
minister of finance to consider reviewing the calculation to
include the amended property assessment notices.
"It's not the municipality or the landowners who are at
fault," said MacArthur. "Small rural municipalities should
not have to pay $40,000 for somebody else's mistake. We
could be losing $600,000 in partnership funding next year so
we need every dollar we can get."
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