Trent Lakes is calling on the federal and provincial governments to redistribute funds collected from municipalities in an effort to reduce the strain on local tax payers and support municipal infrastructure.
At the Tuesday afternoon Trent Lakes council meeting, a notice of motion was presented by Coun. John Braybrook that would see portions of the Provincial Government’s Land Transfer Tax collected on property transactions and a percentage of the GST collected on property sales from the Federal Government be redistributed to municipalities.
The motion stated municipalities face growing infrastructure needs, including roads, bridges, water systems, and other critical services, which are essential to community well-being and economic development. In addition there are also increasing costs of policing in rural areas which are having an immediate and direct impact on the property taxes of the respective rural municipalities.
Braybook’s motion stated that the current sources of municipal revenue, including property taxes and user fees, are insufficient to meet these increasing demands for infrastructure investment. However, redistributing a portion of the Provincial Land Transfer Tax and GST to municipalities would provide a predictable and sustainable source of funding for local infrastructure projects without creating a new tax burden on residents or homebuyers.
It went on to say that a redistribution of a portion of the existing Land Transfer Tax and GST would allow municipalities to better plan and invest in long-term infrastructure initiatives, supporting local economic growth and improving the quality of life for residents as well as easing the financial burden of unexpected costs as experienced with the recent increase in the OPP cost of policing in rural areas.
He said at the meeting that his main reason for bringing this motion forward was due to the OPP cost increases and the impacts it is having on Trent Lakes. However, he also told council that over 100 different municipalities have passed similar motions and there is power in sticking with those numbers.
The motion was seconded by Coun. Peter Franzen and carried.