Rob Ford is pressuring the Toronto Library board to cut 10% of its budget, totaling approximately 7 million dollars. The board has been pouring over recommendations for cuts including eliminating computers from all libraries, charging for library cards and closing 38 of Toronto's libraries. For now the board has voted against closures. They have yet to determine what budget cutting measures they will put in place.
Despite having an "out-of-pocket" healthcare program, meaning individuals cover their own medical costs or pay into costly insurance programs, the state of Montana's healthcare spending is double what the Province of Saskatchewan pays for their "free and universal" healthcare plan. Both populations are roughly the same size, but while the government of Montana spends $8-billion (U.S.), the Saskatchewan government pays only $4.5 billion. The difference is largely due to administrative costs.
The city of St. John has voted to end contracts with private trash collection companies. Council decided to make trash collection a city-operated service after a financial analysis showed the city would save money. The projected savings amount to $500,000 annually. The city is also considering moving to a pay per service model, which would encourage households to reduce their garbage, rather than the current method of covering costs through property taxes.
An article in the Walrus talks about the financial decline of Canada's economic hub. Though Toronto remains a vibrant, diverse and exciting place to live, poor economic and structural decision making have left the city with a crumbling infrastructure, service cuts, and traffic congestion that is creating frustration for everyone. With the current Mayor's decision to cut several tax-based sources of revenue and to instead further slash programs and infrastructure the solutions to the City's woes are nowhere in sight.
As revenues decline and services are on the brink of being cut, a Toronto city councilor is suggesting the city add a 1% sales tax, or preferably that a portion of HST revenue be directed towards municipalities. Councillor Shelly Carroll has pointed out that her suggestion comes from talking to local constituents who want to see important services maintained without relying solely on property taxes. Read more in the Toronto Sun.
A new report by the National Council of Welfare, a government advisory committee "uses hard numbers to link poverty to the cost of productivity, health care and the justice system."The report finds that a long term investment in preventing poverty would save taxpayers billions in dollars. For example, providing a shelter bed for someone who is homeless costs $42,000 per year while providing affordable housing would cost about $18,000 per year.
144 Manitoba municipalities have passed a resolution urging provincial parties to commit to a 1% tax provincial sales tax transfer to municipalities. The call for investment is an urgent one as infrastructure, from roads to the provision of safe drinking water, is at risk. Providing these funds will likely produce a boon to the economy. "The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has found that every dollar invested in infrastructure grows the economy, giving us more back.
School districts in BC are caught in a Catch 22. Provincial carbon neutral measures are forcing districts to pay for carbon offsets that don't actually reduce the districts' own emissions AND drain funds from education operating budgets.
The bigger the emissions gap, the more offsets districts have to buy; the more they have to buy, the less they can shrink emissions.
This Catch 22 is costing BC school districts $25 per tonne of carbon offsets ----it's a 'Catch 25". Catch $25 drained $4.4 million from BC school district operating budgets for 2010.
So far, 91 Manitoba municipalities have passed resolutions calling on provincial political parties to commit, if elected, a portion of the tax revenue the Manitoba government collects in communities to repairing and upgrading the infrastructure in those communities. Read more in the Red River Valley Echo.
Calgary's newly formed Community Investment Fund will direct $252 million over the next six years into community projects including a new central library, new recreation centres, and upgrades to community arenas, pools, parks and community associations and recreation groups. The investment in projects was made possible by the Province's decision to ease the provincial property tax, leaving the city with an extra $42 million dollars annually. All city quadrants will receive community upgrades.
