Search Results for: IMFG Paper
IMFG Paper | 2015
Can GTA Municipalities Raise Property Taxes?
Almos Tassonyi, Richard M. Bird, and Enid Slack
Have Greater Toronto Area (GTA) municipalities raised their property tax rates to the point at which they are likely to lose tax revenue? In other words, will further tax rate increases lower the size of the tax base? How important is tax competition between municipalities in the GTA?
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IMFG Paper | 2014
A Better Local Business Tax: The BVT
Richard M. Bird
This paper makes the case for a local business tax. The BVT is better than the discriminatory and heavy real property taxes currently levied on businesses in Ontario and other provinces. Moreover, such a tax would be complementary rather than competitive to VATs like the GST and HST.
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IMFG Paper | 2014
Provincial-Municipal Relations in Ontario: Approaching an Inflection Point
André Côté and Michael Fenn
Three major trends are buffeting provincial-municipal arrangements in Ontario. The first is a growing recognition of the role cities and metropolitan regions play as centres of growth and national prosperity. The second is increasing complexity in the provincial-municipal relationship. The third is the emergence of threats to the fiscal health of Ontario municipalities.
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IMFG Paper | 2013
Decentralization and Infrastructure in Developing Countries
Roy Bahl and Richard M. Bird
The paper first sets out the theory of expenditure assignment with respect to decentralizing infrastructure expenditure, and then considers how practice around the developing world appears to differ from what that theory appears to suggest.
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IMFG Paper | 2013
Public Finance in Montréal: In Search of Equity and Efficiency
Jean-Philippe Meloche and François Vaillancourt
Following the 2002 amalgamation, half Montréal’s pre-amalgamation suburbs de-merged in 2006, leading to the creation of a smaller megacity with 19 decentralized boroughs. This paper identifies factors that affect the capacity of Montréal’s boroughs to fulfil their responsibilities.
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IMFG Paper | 2013
Merging Municipalities: Is Bigger Better?
Enid Slack and Richard M. Bird
This paper reviews different ways in which the formal governance of metropolitan areas may be restructured, such as through two-tier structures, voluntary cooperation, special districts, and municipal mergers. It includes a case study of the amalgamation in Toronto.
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IMFG Paper | 2013
Trading Density for Benefits: Toronto and Vancouver Compared
Aaron A. Moore
This paper describes and evaluates density for benefit agreements (DBAs) in Toronto and Vancouver. DBAs allow municipalities to secure cash contributions or amenities from developers in return for allowing developers to exceed currently prevailing height and density restrictions.
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IMFG Paper | 2012
Economies of Scale in Fire and Police Services in Ontario
Adam Found
This paper analyzes economies of scale for two municipal services by considering how per-household municipal costs are affected by a municipality’s size. An econometric model is used to estimate costs associated with fire and police services using data for 445 municipalities in the Province of Ontario.
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Search Research Archive
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