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Presentation | 2019
From the Top Down: The Governance of Urban Development in Mexico
This presentation by 2018-19 IMFG Post-Doctoral Fellow Alejandra Reyes highlights the experience of some of Mexico’s largest cities in the implementation of nationally mandated urban growth policies.
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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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Presentation | 2019
Steering Low-Carbon Growth in Emerging African Cities: Insights from Dar es Salaam
Chibulu Luo
This presentation by Chibulu Luo, a 2018-19 IMFG Graduate Fellow, explores three key questions: What role do African cities and municipal governments play in producing low-carbon urban growth? Which institutions or governing bodies should take the lead, and why? And what are the opportunities to scale up investments to finance sustainable technologies and infrastructure?
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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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Presentation | 2019
Sharing the Costs of a Growing City: The Case for Development Charges
Adam Found
New development is essential to supporting a growing city but it also leads to added costs for municipal governments. New housing developments often require new or expanded infrastructure, including roads, sewers, and water treatment plants.
There is ongoing debate on how cities should pay for this growth-related capital. Some argue that user fees and property tax revenues are sufficient to cover these costs, and that development charges on developers will likely result in increased housing prices.
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Video | 2019
Bold Ideas, Bold Action: Next Steps for the GTHA
Municipalities across the GTHA face many shared challenges. Ahead of last year’s municipal elections, the Institute on Municipal Governance and Finance (IMFG) published a series of essays from some of the GTHA’s most respected leaders offering bold ideas to push the region forward on key issues. In this video, four of these leaders discuss their bold ideas.
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Search Research Archive
Inside Halton: Enid Slack on the Vacant Home Tax
September 6, 2024
Journal of Commerce: Aaron Moore on Winnipeg development
August 14, 2024
Globe and Mail: Sean Grisdale on the “Squandering” of Public Land Sales
June 7, 2024