We were pleased to participate in the Province’s Pre-Budget consultation, providing recommendations focused on ensuring our members have access to the tools and resources they need to fulfill 2024 government requirements.
More and more, it is becoming challenging for municipalities to provide efficient and effective services and respond to provincial requirements with complex and outdated legislation. The application of certain legislation and subsequent reporting requirements are needlessly burdensome. Municipalities and their staff have also been challenged with provincial funding that has not kept pace with inflation or reflects the increased costs of service provision and investment in aging and new infrastructure. We need a Provincial budget that responds to and addresses these challenges in a meaningful way.
Our 2024 Pre-Budget recommendations are:
- Ensure that legislative and reporting requirements are modern and meet the needs of the provincial government, while making best use of municipal resources
- Re-start the Municipal Modernization Program and Audit and Accountability Fund with a focus on project implementation
- Protect and expand existing funding streams and work with municipalities and their associations to explore new funding arrangements
- Co-design solutions and collaborate with municipalities and their associations to ensure that the Province understands local impacts and opportunities before introducing new policies or programs
We encourage the Province to consider ensuring that the framework in which municipalities operate is modern to favour efficient use of resources and service delivery. As always, we offer to bring forward the expertise of our members to inform policy and program design emphasizing that collaboration with municipalities should not be an after-thought.
Read our Full 2024 Pre-Budget Submission
For more information, please contact us.