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Midwestern

West Perth Mayor Says OMPF Cuts Are A Challenge

West Perth Mayor Walter McKenzie says his municipality saw the biggest cut in Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund  (OMPF) funding of any municipality in Ontario this year.

McKenzie says with increasing costs and mounting projects in rural municipalities like his, it’s very troubling to see OMPF funding get consistently slashed over the last few years.

“We depend on that funding to make things work here, and the money has to come from somewhere," he says.

McKenzie says that "somewhere" is typically ratepayers' pockets in the form of more tax increases to make up the funding shortfall, or from savings that municipalities have built up over the years that was possibly earmarked for other purposes.

“The cuts that we’re seeing from the province, the impact from that is an increase on our tax rate, and it’s hard to stay at a fairly low tax level when you have to make up this money that’s not coming in from the province," says McKenzie.

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