Perspectives Paper | 2019
Transit in the Greater Toronto Area: How to Get Back on the Rails
Matti Siemiatycki and Drew Fagan
Toronto is an emerging global city. Yet the failure to build rapid transit in step with the explosive growth of the past 40 years is one of the city-region’s biggest impediments to inclusive development and prosperity. This paper outlines how transit planning in the Greater Toronto Area can be improved through changes to governance and the role of evidence in decision-making.
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Perspectives Paper | 2019
The Evolution of Local Governance in Mexico City: Pursuing Autonomy in a Growing Region
Alejandra Reyes
This paper examines the evolution of Mexico City’s governance structure. The City’s latest transition to a city-state, the paper argues, marks a particularly important step forward in the City’s pursuit of greater political autonomy and democratic decision-making.
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IMFG Paper | 2019
The Role of Business Improvement Areas and Neighbourhood Associations in the City of Toronto
Alexandra Flynn
Toronto has more than 80 Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) and more than 150 neighbourhood associations (NAs) that claim to represent the interests of residents and businesses on matters ranging from the public realm to planning. This paper provides background and comprehensive data on the city’s BIAs and NAs, including their locations, functions, and correlations with other socioeconomic indicators, such as income. The paper concludes with options for City Council in reforming its governance model.
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Perspectives Paper | 2019
The Right Tax for the Job: The Role of Property Taxes in Funding Cities
Bev Dahlby and Melville McMillan
The property tax generates a significant proportion of municipal revenues in Canada and has done so since Confederation. This paper makes the case that the property tax is a good tax for funding local (especially general-purpose) governments for several reasons: the base of the tax is immovable; the tax can generate reliable and sufficient revenues and make local governments independent from other orders of government; many of the core goods and services provided by local governments directly benefit property owners; the tax is visible to property owners; and the tax is easy to administer.
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IMFG Paper | 2019
The Practice of Municipal Cooperation: Australian Perspectives and Comparisons with Canada
Graham Sansom
Municipal cooperation is an important feature of local and regional governance in both Australia and Canada. Many of the responsibilities of local governments cannot be addressed satisfactorily within the boundaries of a single municipality, whilst complex issues facing central governments often require complementary action at local and regional levels. This paper documents and evaluates the track record of Australian municipal cooperation within the context of the federal system, state legislation and policy, and the ongoing debate about the respective merits of joint service delivery and mergers.
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Book | 2019
Funding the Canadian City
Heather Evans, Lisa Philipps, Enid Slack and Lindsay Tedds
This collection of papers by leading experts, emerging scholars, and policy makers in the field of municipal taxation and finance sets out the financial challenges facing municipalities in Canada today and examines various practical means of navigating these challenges.
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IMFG Paper | 2019
Mind the Funding Gap: Transit Financing in Los Angeles County and Metro Vancouver
Matthew Lesch
Across North American cities, the demand for better public transit is pervasive, yet many local governments lack sufficient revenue to finance the construction of new infrastructure. To resolve this dilemma, some localities have turned to citizens directly, proposing temporary, earmarked, sales tax increases as a way to finance capital-intensive projects. Why have some communities been more receptive to this funding model than others? This study addresses this question by comparing the recent experiences of Los Angeles County (2008), where a ballot measure to raise money for transportation was successful and Metro Vancouver (2015), where a similar public vote was unsuccessful.
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IMFG Paper | 2019
Does Local Government Autonomy Promote Fiscal Sustainability? Lessons from Illinois
Matthew Walshe
Whether institutional constraints are desirable is a debate that may alternatively be framed as one over the merits of local government autonomy. This paper contributes to this debate by empirically analysing the effects of local government autonomy on several outcomes, including the size of government, the ownsource revenue mix, and fiscal sustainability.
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Globe and Mail: Sean Grisdale on the “Squandering” of Public Land Sales
June 7, 2024
CBC Online: Almos Tassonyi on Brampton’s Strategic Reserve Fund
June 4, 2024
Municipal World: Enid Slack on Municipal Finance
March 5, 2024