WINDSOR, Ont. – Premier Kathleen Wynne is advising Ontario municipalities to consult their constituents before they ask the province for increased taxation powers.
Wynne is attending the annual meeting of the Association of Ontario Municipalities in Windsor, where some cities are urging the province to give them so-called revenue tools in addition to property taxes.
Toronto is the only one of the 444 municipalities in the province with the authority to raise revenue by imposing levies such as a land transfer tax or a vehicle registration tax, but it cannot introduce sales or income taxes.
Wynne says the discussion so far has been about giving other municipalities the same powers as Toronto, but she doesn’t know if some also want to introduce a sales tax.
The premier says smaller communities tell her they don’t want new taxes, so she wants municipalities to agree on what revenue tools they want to introduce.
Wynne says the idea of new municipal taxes is not on people’s radar, so she wants local councils to engage constituents and be transparent about what, if any, new levies they want to introduce.
“I think there does need to be a public component to this,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a strong understanding on revenue tools, and there needs to be a discussion on that.”