Business View Magazine | March 2018

102 best service Ontario’s diversityof municipal govern- ments.When looking for a solution that would be sus- tainable,fair and flexible,a new1 percent HSTmade themost sense compared to all alternatives.It has also proved more popular in publicpolls,with 73 percent of Ontarians polled supporting a 1 percent increase in HSTdedicated solelytomunicipal infrastructure. It is important for economic development to have good local infrastructure tomove goods,services,and people.Businesses depend on communities with good roads and strong,essential local services.Asales tax would help communities deliver the services and infra- structure that businesses expect and depend on,while keeping commercial property tax rates competitive. At the same time,for every$100million dollars invested in public infrastructure,the GDP is boosted by$114 million dollars. For manypeople,especially seniors,young adults, and families,rising property taxes would further add to Ontario’s housingwoes. “Rising property taxes make Ontario’s housing even more unaffordable for many families and seniors,” Dollin says.“Municipal governments need a better mix of reliable funding sources sowe can provide critical services and infrastructure.” Sales taxes are less regressive than propertytaxes, ASSOCIATION OF MUNICIPALITIES OF ONTARIO