2021 Provincial Pre-Budget Submission

MFOA has submitted comments to the Ministry of Finance as part of the 2021 pre-budget consultations. MFOA’s recommendations are based on how the Province can further support municipal fiscal health and promote collaboration between governments. This submission builds upon our Fall 2020 pre-budget submission.

Our recommendations are as follows:

1. Cancel the planned further downloading of public health and childcare costs to municipalities
2. Work with the Federal government to extend the Safe Restart Agreement into 2021, and allow Phase 2 Funding for Transit to carry over in Q2
3. Maintain committed transfer payments and Provincial Gas Tax allocations as planned until 2022  
4. Provide a one-year extension of all upcoming deadlines in O. Reg. 588/17: Asset Management Planning for Municipal Infrastructure 
5. Improve fairness in the regulation of payments in lieu of taxes (PILTs) for airport authorities  
6. Provide complete information as early as possible to allow municipalities to plan strategically and optimize limited resources
7. Take a whole of government approach to reporting
8. Work closely with municipalities to learn “on the ground” lessons to successfully plan for the challenges ahead