The Town of Minto is joining with others groups seeking a sustainable funding model for local infrastructure.
It’s a good idea in principle.
Latterly, tri-partite plans have begun to resemble a lottery where there are winners and losers in the bid for funding in any given year.
On more egregious occasions, towns desperate for help with catastrophic issues like closed bridges or defective sewage systems have been overlooked in favour of feel-good projects like new parks and recreation facilities elsewhere.
We have argued consistently that the primary purpose of municipal government is keeping up its infrastructure, whether that is its roads, bridges, water and sewers or public utilities. These are all the underpinnings of a healthy community – where residents can travel safely, commerce can flow efficiently and people can have access to communal services that safeguard their environment.
To us these items are a priority and worthy of additional funding from the province, as it used to happen.
Up until the Harris government of the early 1990s, programs did exist. In their zeal to cut costs and eliminate bloat within the bureaucracy, many programs were cancelled.
Before amalgamation and staggering increases in staff and costs borne by local taxpayers, the Ministry of Transportation was a great benefit to local towns and townships. A ministry representative was hands on and a great liaison for local road superintendents who could rely on sound advice and be an ally when funding was sought. Priorities seemed to be more easily apparent under that scenario.
Downloading of portions of provincial highways and the elimination of suburban road commissions were incredibly short-sighted efforts to curb costs.
There remains just one taxpayer, whether the bill is paid locally or provincially. Dumping those responsibilities of a regional or provincial nature onto local budgets remains wrong-headed.
Minto’s quest for sustainable funding has merit as long as those same local councils commit themselves to investing enough local dollars to ensure routine infrastructure improvement and maintenance.