December 5, 2024
Ford government cuts will blow $2-billion hole in municipal budgets, Moody's warns
Ontario municipalities face $300M in new charges next year, credit rating agency says.
Ontario municipalities face $300M in new charges next year, credit rating agency says.

Ontario municipalities should brace for a $2-billion shock in the decade ahead, as cuts in provincial transfers sink in, according to the credit rating service Moody’s.

The warning comes in a report released last week, and set to be presented at Peel Region’s council meeting Thursday.

Peel and the other three Greater Toronto regional councils — Halton, York and Durham — are well-positioned to weather the storm, the report says, because they have the healthiest reserve funds.

But several other jurisdictions with smaller reserve funds, including Toronto, will be especially hard hit, according to Moody’s vice president Adam Hardi.

“Raising taxes is not a very popular choice among municipalities,” Hardi told CBC Toronto Tuesday. “But we have heard already that some municipalities may be looking at least to fund some of the funding shortfalls through higher taxes.”

[…]

See Also:

(1) ‘We need to be better,’ minister says as Ford government rocked by nepotism controversy

(2) City spending cuts must start now

(3) Ontario government holds firm on hiring of PC MPP Kinga Surma’s father as policy adviser

(4) Doug Ford ‘Ensured’ Ex-Chief Of Staff Left Government: Stephen Lecce

(5) ‘Kevlar in the classroom’: Teachers turn to protective gear as violence escalates

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