WHEREAS small rural and urban local governments are struggling to maintain basic operational services of water, sewer, and roads, while trying to deal with hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure deficit, as well as the various other services they provide; AND WHEREAS local governments are unable to fund operations, in any way other than yearly property tax increases, which is not sustainable, and hurts the ability of those local governments to attract and retain business and industry investment to their communities: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM and FCM petition the provincial and federal governments to establish a committee to discuss, establish, and implement a funding formula that ensures a percentage of taxes already collected from citizens, business and industry, at the provincial and federal level be given back to local governments to deal with the infrastructure deficit in their communities.
Ministry of Finance After the onset of the world financial crisis in 2008, provincial revenues deteriorated significantly and created a significant operating deficit after several years of budget surpluses. In Budget 2009 September Update, the government presented a 5-year plan to return to a balanced budget by 201314. We are still following this plan, and it has meant making very difficult fiscal decisions. By restraining spending as we have, we are managing to keep income taxes among the lowest in Canada and have preserved our AAA credit rating, allowing us to pay lower interest rates on the funds we do borrow, which in turn helps to hold the line on taxation. In Budget 2012, we projected a very modest 154 million surplus for 201314. On a budget of over 44 billion annually, this is a thin margin. With the current economic situation in Europe and elsewhere, achieving this target continues to be a challenge. As a result, at this time government is not considering any new revenue-sharing programs, but certainly recognizes the fiscal issues being faced by local governments. Therefore we continue to encourage you to work with the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and other ministries as appropriate to arrive at creative solutions to the infrastructure and related issues that you are facing.