The provincial government has been picking winners and losers when it comes to the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund grant – and Mapleton is on the winner side of the ledger.
Finance director Mike Givens reported to council on Feb. 14 that the province had issued its main transfer payment, and Mapleton would receive $1,321,800. That is an increase of $76,400 or 6.1% over last year’s allocation.
“It’s trending in the right direction,” he told council. “It’s not the same for all municipalities.”
Neighbouring Centre Wellington Township found that out this year with its second reduction in a row. This year it received a 10% cut in its grant, amounting to about $110,000 it has to make up on its tax rolls.
Givens said of Mapleton’s grant, “As in prior years, the township’s funding comes from the farmland and managed forest assessment component and rural communities component.”
The OMPF was instituted at the turn of the century when the province downloaded a large number of services. To ease that cash crunch, it instituted the grants.
