Word Wednesday that municipalities currently without a public transit system won’t be eligible for any portion of the provincial gas tax rebate isn’t sitting well with at least one Fort Frances councillor.
Coun. Tannis Drysdale said Thursday the “new Toronto tax” was a blow to the region, which has been denied a much-needed additional source of revenue while larger urban areas will profit from something all Ontarians pay into.
“When I go fill up my car, two cents of every litre will go to Toronto,” she charged. “Everybody in Northwestern Ontario who fills up will be doing it.”
Coun. Drysdale, who sits on the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association and has been closely involved with regional affairs through groups like the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce and the Northwestern Ontario Trade Network, noted the criteria to receive the rebate is based on both levels of ridership and population.
But she said it’s nearly impossible for rural communities to qualify for the first of the two criteria.
Even if the population demanded it, it would be difficult for smaller municipalities to develop a public transit system when they can’t get extra money—such as from the gas tax rebate—to pay for it.
“In addition to supporting existing transit systems, we want to expand transit systems in areas where there’s large population growth,” Finance minister Greg Sorbara had said Wednesday.
But Coun. Drysdale noted the region’s numbers are going down as more and more young people leave for southern Ontario—where the gas tax dollars will be flowing.
And without new municipal revenue sources like the gas tax rebate, she wondered how regional municipalities can develop economically, create jobs, and give those young people a reason to stay here?
“Even more money for Toronto,” sighed Coun. Drysdale. “Which is great, because we’re sending our kids there.”
Ideally, the region could be getting a fair sum of money back to use for any number of uses, she noted.
“In Northwestern Ontario in 2001, 500 million litres of gas and diesel fuel were sold. At two cents a litre, that’s $10 million,” she remarked.
Coun. Drysdale noted that even though she understands the ever-growing Toronto may face transportation difficulties, and had no doubt the city will put the money to good use, the decision by the province to exclude rural municipalities was “inappropriate.”
She stressed any new streams of revenue for municipalities, such as the gas tax rebate, are crucial since many municipal governments find themselves in a position where costs to maintain infrastructure—and handle downloaded essential services—go up each year while their revenues do not.
Back in June, the Town of Fort Frances wrote a letter to ask the province to consider municipalities of all sizes when it comes to making decisions regarding the share of gas tax revenues mentioned in the provincial budget in May.
“As you are aware, local municipal governments are in the best position to make decisions regarding priorities in their communities,” Coun. Drysdale wrote in the letter.
“Planning priorities within the Town of Fort Frances differ greatly than those of the City of Toronto.
“Our priorities are built around the challenges of declining assessment and population, the need for economic diversification, and maintaining the financial capacity to maintain the existing infrastructure that serves our citizens.
“We are hopeful that in developing the criteria for municipalities to receive benefit from this new revenue source that the government will very seriously consider the varying needs of local governments large and small,” the letter added.
Municipalities have been waiting since the May budget to learn if the province will dole out the rebate on a per capita or ridership basis.
“It’s going to be a fair allocation,” Sorbara said Wednesday. “It will be a mixture. It will be a formula that recognizes both levels of ridership and basic populations.
“Obviously if a community, generally rural municipalities, do not have public transit systems, then they wouldn’t qualify,” he added. “If they have plans for public transit systems, then, to that extent, they may qualify.”
Retroactive to Oct. 1, the province has begun setting aside one cent of the provincial gas tax, which equals about $150 million a year, for municipalities across Ontario to fund public transit.
The province has promised to give one cent of the gas tax this year, 1.5 cents as of Oct. 1, 2005, and two cents as of Oct. 1, 2006.
At the end of the three years, municipalities are expected to have received a total of about $680 million for public transit from the new measure.
—With notes from the Canadian Press
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
