Canada’s communities are getting a
raw deal with federal and provincial governments scooping up the lion’s
share of taxes and giving little back, says a report. A Federation of Canadian
Municipalities report, released Tuesday says municipalities are being
left to do the heavy lifting and the results are plain to see, with
rocketing costs and deteriorating infrastructure. “Canada’s tax system takes too much
from our communities and puts too little back,” FCM President Barry
Vrbanovic stated in the annual report titled the State of Canada’s
Cities and Communities 2012. “Without access to revenues that grow
the economy and without long-term investment from other levels of
government, municipalities continue to face a gap between their
responsibilities and their ability to pay,” he said. Faced with a $123 billion municipal
infrastructure deficit, Vrbanovic said Canadian municipalities can’t get
by on collecting just eight cents of every tax dollar. “This fiscal imbalance erodes
Canada’s competitiveness, while placing a growing burden on property
taxpayers, straining local services and forcing municipalities to delay
essential infrastructure projects,” he said. While he lauded the federal
government for involving municipalities in the recession recovery
efforts, he openly expressed fears in a speech to the Economic Club of
Canada in Ottawa about what will happen when the programs that helped
municipalities over the hump expire. “Federal investments worth billions
of dollars annually to cities and communities will dry up in 2014, with
the scheduled expiry of the Building Canada plan,” Vrbanovic said.
(more)
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http://www.fcm.ca/home/resources/reports.htm
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