Civil Municipal Magazine - Dec 2023

26 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 12 It is time to begin a discussion about the fiscal framework needed to support local governments in their work to support growth. Municipalities in Ontario cannot run budget deficits, meaning that funding sources for financial obligations can come from property tax increases, service cuts, the use of reserves, and in some cases, taking on additional debt. Each year the province of Ontario issues an annual repayment limit that restricts how much debt a municipality can take on. Municipalities are responsible and accountable governments. However, municipalities are regulated by provincial law and are required to follow the rules laid out for them. Over the past decade, municipalities have been required by the province to better coordinate decisions regarding the building, operating, maintaining, renewing, replacing and disposing of infrastructure assets. Municipalities use this to make the best possible investment decisions for their infrastructure assets – assets used every day by people and businesses across Ontario. At the same time, municipal revenues do not grow with the economy or inflation. Taken