Ontario government announces one-time funding for small and rural municipalities

At Innisfil Town Hall Wednesday morning, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, announced one-time funding for many of the province’s small and rural municipalities.

According to Clark, the one-time $200 million investment will be allocated to 405 municipalities across Ontario to help modernize and improve services in the communities.

“People rely on municipalities to deliver so many important services: transit, water and wastewater services, parks and recreation and the list goes on and on,” Clark said. “Taxpayers expect and deserve modern, efficient service delivery that puts people first and shows respect for hard earned taxpayers dollars.

“And while larger municipalities have economies of scale and the resources needed to modernize and improve the way they deliver services, smaller and rural municipalities might not.”

“This one-time investment gives Ontario’s small and rural communities the support that they need to become more efficient, to modernize service delivery, to avoid expenditure growth and ultimately better meet the needs of their residents,” he said.

According to the province, the money will be allocated based on the number of households in a municipality and whether the municipality is urban or rural.

Individual municipalities will receive:

• City of Orillia: $520,308
• Town of Collingwood: $595,703
• Town of Midland: $676,935
• Town of Penetanguishene: $649,148
• Town of Wasaga Beach: $540,330
• Town of Innisfil: $676,935
• Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury: $535,004
• Town of New Tecumseth: $469,838
• Essa Township: $676,935
• Tiny Tonwship: $676,935
• Adjala-Tosorontio Township: $651,361
• Clearview Township: $676,935
• Oro-Medonte Township: $676,935
• Ramara Township: $676,935
• Severn Township: $676.935
• Springwater Township: $676, 935
• Tay Township: $676,935

Innisfil mayor Lynn Dollin said she is “extremely grateful” for the investment.

“While we pride ourselves on being a municipality that does more with less, there is always room to improve and this funding will help us do that. So we are extremely grateful to Minister Clark and the province for this investment,” she said.

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“We know how hard residents work for their money. That is why we are always looking for opportunity and cost efficiencies wherever possible,” Dollin said. “For us, finding efficiencies isn’t just about something that should happen every now and then, but it should be a constant focus.”

According to Clark, notification was sent to the remaining municipalities receiving funding Wednesday morning.