Christa Lowry, Mayor of Mississippi Mills, is also the chair of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, giving her a detailed view of how small towns are dealing with run-away infrastructure costs and limited ways to raise revenue, among other challenges.
Lowry reports that municipal construction costs have risen 70% in the last 10 years. On top of that she notes a built-in inequity between what revenues smaller towns have access to, versus what infrastructure they’re responsible to build and maintain.
ROMA has been working closely with AMO, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario for some time, to convince the provincial government to come up with a new, long-term and fair funding deal. Lowry states the status quo, just isn’t working anymore.
Lowry raised these points to help voters in the October municipal elections ask the right questions to their candidates, and to know enough to recognize workable answers. Property taxes for small towns in Ontario have risen over 6% on average each year for the last two years.
Story by Brian Turner
