With a focus on small, rural municipalities, the move indicates a less urban-centred approach to provincial investments.
After suggesting ongoing transfer payments from the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) that for a core funding component in municipal budgets across the province were in jeopardy in February, last week the province provided welcome news to many rural municipalities struggling to maintain local infrastructure with a one- time grant. These funds are designed to provide critical support to small and rural municipalities that may have limited capacity to plan, modernize, and improve the way they provide services to their communities. The allocation of these funds will remain in local hands, allowing municipalities to decide how they could be used to best serve their communities.
Every municipality in Haliburton – Kawartha Lakes – Brock will receive a portion of these funds, with the amounts calculated based on the number of households in each municipality with different allocation formulae for rural and urban municipalities. Cavan Monaghan will receive a grant in the amount of $586,372.
This gesture suggests a respect for municipalities as the province seems to be treating municipalities as partners, allowing them to spend funds according to their own unique priorities as they seek ways to manage the costs of their own service delivery. Among the suggested uses are service delivery reviews, the development of shared services agreements, IT solutions, capital investments or other projects. With a focus on small, rural municipalities, the move also indicates a less urban-centred approach to provincial investments. KG
