Search Results for: IMFG Paper

This paper defines the terms Big Data, Open Data, Open Government, and Smart Cities and uses two case studies – London (U.K.) and Toronto – to examine questions about using data to drive economic growth, improve the accountability of government to citizens, and offer more digitally enabled services.
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While the financial situation of municipal employee pension plans in Canada is satisfactory overall, these plans involve significant financial risks and in some cases have experienced financial difficulties that have caused problems for municipal finances.
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Why did Canadian municipal credit conditions improved so dramatically after the 2008 recession compared to other subnational governments around the world?
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This paper discusses why property taxes are particularly challenging to reform and suggests several ways in which efforts to reform this tax may become more successful in the future.
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The challenge of governing regions that fall within the jurisdiction of more than one municipality is a long-standing policy problem for local governments. This paper examines interlocal agreements in six Canadian metropolitan areas.
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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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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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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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