[homeles_ot-l] The State of Canada’s Cities and Communities 2012 - Report from Fed'n of Cdn Municipalities

[Linda Lalonde]

Hi folks,

 
This report from the FCM covers the reasons that cities need to have a better revenue system than the static and non-progressive one offered through property taxes.

 
Linda.

 
http://fcm.ca/documents/reports/The_State_of_Canadas_Cities_and_Communities_2012_EN.pdf 

 
"Canada’s cities have come a long way from a $125-million federal investment in 2003, to the $4.75 billion of 2010. The economic importance of cities and communities is clearly being recognized. Recent events suggest that the tide has turned in favour of municipalities. During the recent economic crisis, the federal government called upon municipalities to implement its stimulus plan. Together, federal and municipal governments began repairing and rebuilding Canada’s aging infrastructure, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the process.


Saying we’ve come a long way implies that we had a long way to come—and we did. We had to overcome a decade of neglect and underfunding that had undermined Canada’s competitiveness and quality of life. 


Unfortunately, much of the way forward is uphill. Canada’s tax system takes too much from our communities, and puts too little back. Without access to revenues that grow with the economy, and without long-term investment from other levels of government, municipalities continue to face a gap between their responsibilities and their ability to pay."
 
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.web.net/pipermail/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20120619/bfd98933/attachment.htm>