The Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO) have petitioned the senior governments provide financial relief to Ontario municipalities that have experienced increased costs and a drop in revenue due to the COVID crisis. The resolution calls for assistance in three forms:
1. Relief: Immediate financial relief for municipalities facing fiscal pressure as a result of reduced revenues, with a focus on addressing the projected $415 million revenue loss from April to June in transit systems that serve LUMCO municipalities
2. Recovery: A comprehensive recovery plan to address COVID-related impacts for municipalities as they work to reopen the economy, and
3. Reform: A longer-term partnership agreement between municipalities and the federal and provincial governments to re-align capital and service delivery responsibilities with sustainable revenue streams for the future.
The letter reads, “Our cities have worked hard to ensure the continuity of the services our residents rely on every day, but that effort has come with increased costs, even as revenues have declined. Municipalities plan for and deliver balanced budgets every year, but this is a crisis without precedent. We urgently need financial assistance from senior governments who alone have the fiscal capacity to manage this scale of economic disruption.”
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