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.”
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