Search Results for: Municipal Revenues

The “golden rule” of public finance states that over an economic cycle, governments should borrow only to invest and not to fund current spending, and that the current budget must always balance or be brought into surplus. In Ontario, all municipalities are subject to legal borrowing limits, with special exceptions for Toronto and York Region.
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IMFG is pleased to announce the release of a new paper, excerpted from the new book Financing Infrastructure: Who Should Pay? The poor state of municipal infrastructure is the subject of frequent complaint in Canada. Roads are congested, transit systems are in need of major investments, bridges are crumbling, and water treatment plants need to be replaced. Municipalities continue to seek financial assistance from the federal and provincial governments, but are transfers really the best way to pay for municipal capital investments?
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Bringing together perspectives and case studies from across Canada, the US, and Europe, IMFG's new book Financing Infrastructure: Who Should Pay? contends that users, not taxpayers, should start paying directly for their cities’ repairs and expansions.
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Toronto is an exceptional city at least partially because of public policies and past investments. As Toronto City Manager Peter Wallace discussed in his 2016 remarks to IMFG, Toronto faces challenges in meeting the demands of a global, international city.
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As the size and scope of responsibilities for cities expands, do local governments have the appropriate financial and governance arrangements to effectively and efficiently deliver services to residents?
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Local fiscal autonomy is the extent to which local governments rely on locally raised revenues for funding and their ability to set their own tax rates. A comparison of Toronto, London (UK), Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Tokyo, and New York reveals that Toronto is less dependent on intergovernmental transfers than many other major cities but, with the exception of London, it has fewer tax options.
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Can debt financing be “green”? On June 21, IMFG post-doctoral fellow Gustavo Carvalho presented on climate financing in Ontario cities, looking at financial instruments and strategies that have been successfully implemented elsewhere, with a focus on green bonds, environmental impact bonds, and green banks.
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Financial investments are an important part of the fiscal tools available to Canadian municipalities. A well-executed investment strategy can provide a source of income to municipalities, helping them prepare for future budgetary pressures and revenue fluctuations. This paper describes how the current municipal investment regime in Ontario works and its future direction and challenges.
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