Premier Doug Ford and the Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark announced they will cancel retroactive cuts to municipalities, which comes as welcome news to Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson.
The cuts would have impacted 2019 municipal budgets, which were already settled.
Child care, ambulatory care and public health are some of the shared funding responsibilities that have been spared the axe, for now.
Paterson says that would have forced municipalities like Kingston to scramble to deal with the reductions.
“Any changes to provincial funding means that we have to search to find that money elsewhere,” said Paterson.
Monday’s reversal by the provincial government buys municipalities time.
Paterson hopes it will allow the two levels of government to work collaboratively to address the provincial debt and deficit.
“When we have time to plan, then it allows us to explore ideas and changes and find efficiencies, which, quite frankly, I agree with, that we can do that together.”
Depending on how much the province cuts its contributions to municipalities in the future — and when — municipal politicians may still be making tough decisions.
Councillors and mayors across the province could still find themselves contemplating tax levy increases, fee increases or cuts to services.
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