Eight of 10 municipalities in Perth-Wellington that receive transfers from the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) had their funding cut in 2016.
“The provincial government continues to shortchange area municipalities,” said Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece. “It’s unfair and it’s unacceptable.”
Since 2013 OMPF grants have been reduced province-wide by $70 million, or 12 per cent. The fund went from $575 million in 2013 to $505 million for 2016, states a Jan. 18 press release from Pettapiece’s office.
Pettapiece says the cuts have hit local municipalities, disproportionately, noting that since 2013 OMPF grants to the counties of Perth and Wellington were reduced by 42%. Across the riding in 2016, all six Perth municipalities and two in Wellington saw funding cuts.
Two Wellington municipalities saw increases, while the City of Stratford has not received any OMPF funding since 2011.
“We understand the province is in a financial mess, but it is not of municipalities’ making. The numbers are pretty clear; we in Perth-Wellington are paying way more than our fair share to clean up after the Liberals,” the MPP states.
Pettapiece states he intends to continue pressing the issue following the upcoming Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) and Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) conference, where area municipalities have requested meetings with provincial ministers.
Pettapiece also believes the Liberals must reveal the formula they use to calculate OMPF grants.
“It is anything but transparent,” he said.
The release states that Gary McNamara, president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), was critical of the government’s actions. At AMO’s conference in August, McNamara slammed the government’s position, stating, “What’s $50,000 here? What’s another $50,000 there? Well, it’s far more than they seem to appreciate. Almost half of Ontario’s municipalities have to hike property taxes by at least one full per cent to raise $50,000 dollars.”
In the press release, Pettapiece implies that partisanship is a factor in the distribution of OMPF funding. The release points out that in October, MPPs from all parties endorsed a resolution he introduced aimed at ensuring that government-held and opposition-held ridings be given equal and transparent consideration on infrastructure funding.
In Wellington County, five of eight municipalities actually received increases in funding through the program.
For 2016, the County of Wellington received $2,455,500 in OMPF funding, down from $2,888,800 in 2015. However, the province states in allocation notices posted on its website that uploaded costs taken on by the province on the county’s behalf totaled $5,071,500 in 2016.
The 2016 uploads combined with the OMPF exceed the unconditional provincial grant received in 2004 by $6,269,500, the government states.
Centre Wellington saw its 2016 funding cut from $612,000 to $520,200.
Mapleton saw its OMPF allocation reduced from $840,500 last year to $714,500 in 2016. The province points out that even at the reduced figure, the township’s 2016 OMPF allocation is the equivalent of 16% of the township’s municipal property tax revenue.
In Puslinch, the OMPF grant increased by $800, from $404,600 last year to $405,400 in 2016. The township’s 2016 allocation is the equivalent of 12% of the township’s municipal property tax revenue and exceeds the payments received in 2004 by $17,400, the province states.
The Town of Minto received an increase in its 2016 allocation, from $1,532,500 to $1,680,700. In Minto’s case, the province points out, OMPF funding is the equivalent of 39% of the town’s municipal property tax revenue. The funding exceeds the town’s 2015 OMPF by $148,200 and payments received in 2004 by $458,700, the province states.
In the Town of Erin, the OMPF allocation increased from $588,000 to $595,300. The Town of Erin’s 2016 OMPF allocation is the equivalent of 10% of the town’s municipal property tax revenue. The figure exceeds the town’s 2015 OMPF by $7,300 and payments received in 2004 by $273,300.
Wellington North also saw an increase in OMPF funding this year. The 2016 allocation of $1,176,200 is up by $87,500 from $1,088,700 in 2015. The province says the township’s 2016 OMPF allocation is the equivalent of 18% of the township’s municipal property tax revenue.
Funding for Guelph-Eramosa was increased from $442,400 in 2015 to $469,400 this year. The province points out the 2016 allocation is the equivalent of 8% of the township’s municipal property tax revenue and exceeds the payments received in 2004 by $72,400.
OMPF was introduced in 2005 to replace the Community Reinvestment Fund as the province’s main funding model for municipalities.
