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MPP Ernie Hardeman Warns of Impact from Funding Cuts

Wednesday, 25 November 2015 08:58

$10 million from the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund has been cut for 2016, bringing the total in cuts to $70 million in four years

OXFORD COUNTY - The MPP for Oxford County is criticizing the provincial government after more cuts to the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund grant.

Ernie Hardeman says municipalities like Oxford are struggling to make ends meet and deliver the services their residents rely on, but the government continues to cut their funding and add new burdens. Hardeman says several lower tier municipalities are going to really feel the impact of the cuts in Oxford and uses the numbers from East Zorra Tavistock as an example. "In 2012 the provincial grant was $2 253 000 and that has gone down by $995 000 so that is a million dollars they have to get directly from the tax payers since 2012." 

10 million dollars has been cut for 2016 which brings the total to $70 million dollars cut since 2013. Oxford County's MPP was not pleased to hear of this disappointing news. "Well obviously the government had a great problem with setting their priorities on what they should spend their dollars on. Now the government says they are uploading some services, but none of the uploading are to the lower tier municipalities, so that is why they are seeing such a major impact on the small town and rural part of Oxford."  

Hardeman feels this could greatly impact our local municipalities. "This is very important to realize that when the grants were originally put in place, they were put in place because of the inability of some of the municipalities not being able to raise their money out of property taxes. They didn't have high enough assessment to pay some of the cost of services to provide for those, that hasn't changed only the funding has changed and they keep getting hit with a reduction each year." 

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