Duane Hicks
It seems the Town of Fort Frances is right.
Having felt for some time that it and other district municipalities have not been getting the full benefit of “uploading” by the province, town council and administration asked the province for answers—and just yesterday heard back from the Ministry of Finance.
Reading over the responses to the town’s questions, the ministry has indicated the estimated total benefit of 2011 provincial uploads for the Town of Fort Frances is $420,400, just like the town has been saying.
“The response from the Ministry of Finance I am not surprised about at all,” said Coun. Ken Perry, the Fort Frances rep on the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board.
“It’s exactly as I knew it was anyway.”
He added the town gets Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) allocation sheets every year, which to him are self-explanatory, and “all the Ministry of Finance did was verify the fact that we get $420,400 back this year.”
“Those are all verifiable facts because we had the information. I don’t know why the administration of DSSAB wanted to turn a blind eye to that,” noted Coun. Perry, adding he still doesn’t know exactly how DSSAB arrived at the figures it has.
“I think the DSSAB administration has to take a good look at this,” he stressed. “I think they are taking a good look at it to see where they may have gone astray, or they may have led the board astray, or maybe where the board led them astray.
“I wasn’t on the board then—I can’t say what happened last year because I don’t really know,” said Coun. Perry.
“But I just know it has to be fixed.”
The DSSAB did not return a phone call yesterday seeking comment.
Meanwhile, Coun. Perry feels that once this is done, “every municipality in the Rainy River District is going to pay less because the uploading is going to give us some freed-up dollars.”
One of the town’s questions was: “What was the province’s intended or expected benefits directly for municipalities resulting from the Provincial Municipal Fiscal and Service Delivery Review and the phased-in social assistance uploads?
“Was it the province’s
expectation that municipal levies for local DSSAB’s would be reduced by the annual uploaded amount?”
The province’s response was as follows:
“Despite the province’s fiscal challenges, municipalities are continuing to benefit from the government’s decision to upload social assistance benefit program costs.
“The government understands the importance of this commitment to its municipal partners.
“Without the burden of social assistance benefit program costs on the property tax base, municipalities can focus property tax dollars on important local priorities.
“These uploads have reduced costs that [the] Rainy River DSSAB is required to fund and which they would otherwise have had to collect from municipalities, including Fort Frances.
“The estimated total benefit of 2011 provincial uploads for the Town of Fort Frances [$420,400], identified on the 2011 allocation notice, represents the town’s share of the Rainy River DSSAB’s benefit from the uploads.
“The DSSAB provides information on the municipal share of these costs to the Ministry of Community and Social Services, which are reflected in Fort Frances’ share of the 2011 uploads.”
As previously reported, this $420,400 breaks down to include a Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) of $57,900, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) administration component ($48,500), ODSP benefits component ($307,700), and Ontario Works benefits ($6,300).
Additionally, the response indicates total 2011 provincial upload for Rainy River District municipalities is $918,269 (ODB $126,537, ODSP administration $105,981, ODSP benefits $671,817, and OW benefits $13,934).
DSSAB had indicated the total uploaded savings for the entire district this year is only about $448,000.
The responses the town received from the ministry were sent out to district municipalities and DSSAB administration yesterday.
