Business View Magazine | March 2018

100 ASSOCIATION OF MUNICIPALITIES OF ONTARIO structure,after administration costs and low-income rebates.Based on the 2017Ontario budget,that is less than 2 percent of all provincial revenues. Prior to reductions in the federal GSTin 2006 and 2008,Ontarians paid a 15 percent sales tax.If imple- mented,the 1 percent increasewouldmeanOntarians would pay14 percent in sales tax.This would still be less than five other provinces. Municipal sales taxes are usedwidelyacross the United States,and globally,to fund local services. However,Canadianmunicipalitiesmust rely largely on property taxes,with some grants from federal and provincial governments,to deliver services,as well as build andmaintain critical infrastructure.Property taxes are tied to themarketvalue of property,not an individual’s abilityto pay. One of the biggest challenges has been download- ing from the province-particularly in the 1990s.Over the years,5,000-kilometres of provincial roads,a range of social services,and social housingwere all put on the property taxbill–to the tune of about $3.9 billion annually. The property taxbase subsidized the provincial treasury.Thismeant importantwork on roads,bridges, transit,and other infrastructurewas put off to deal with the growing costs and demands of the download- ed human and communityhealth services. In 2008,the province agreed to slowlytake back some social service and court costs.By2018,this“up- load”will be fully in effect.It is worthabout $2 billion