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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Public Administration

Theses/Dissertations

Public Finance

2017

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Waterright: An Examination Of Drinking Water, Tax Policy, And Water Affordability In Southwestern Ontario, Robert Sharon Jul 2017

Waterright: An Examination Of Drinking Water, Tax Policy, And Water Affordability In Southwestern Ontario, Robert Sharon

MPA Major Research Papers

There is an extensive regulatory framework embodying the operational supply of drinking water in Ontario, including the need for all municipalities to provide a self-sustaining financial plan for their system. This has resulted in the price of water in Ontario significantly outpacing the Consumer Price Index and general property taxation rates. This cost increase is impacting Ontario residents, causing poorer residents to pay a larger percentage of their disposable income on water required for basic human needs.While provincial regulation is thorough from a quality assurance approach, it is silent on the matter of ensuring residential water affordability. Municipalities can improve …


Does The Province Have Enough Financial And Statistical Data Available To Execute A Needs-Based Grant Allocation To Target Municipal Infrastructure Investment Instead Of Utilizing An Application Process To Allocate Funds?, Brenda Garrett Jul 2017

Does The Province Have Enough Financial And Statistical Data Available To Execute A Needs-Based Grant Allocation To Target Municipal Infrastructure Investment Instead Of Utilizing An Application Process To Allocate Funds?, Brenda Garrett

MPA Major Research Papers

Municipalities across the Province are grappling with infrastructure deficits. Small, northern, and rural municipality’s tax assessment base limits its ability to garner sufficient revenue to support operations as well as renew and replace infrastructure. Federal and Provincial governments must step in and assist. As a result, the province introduced the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) as a permanent program to fund critical infrastructure projects for core assets—roads, bridges, water and wastewater. This paper analyzes provincially mandated municipal Financial Information Returns (FIRs) in conjunction with OCIF statistics to assess whether the Province can efficiently and effectively re-distribute revenue using existing financial …