Ontario Maintaining Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund For 2021

Pete Fisher
5 years ago
• Categories: Provincial

Press Release

Ontario continues to build strong, local partnerships by maintaining the funding available to municipalities through the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) at $500 million for 2021.

Today Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance, committed to maintaining the OMPF at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association annual conference while announcing consultations on next year’s program to ensure the funding is better focused to deliver results for small, northern and rural municipalities.

“Municipalities told us how vital the OMPF is to their communities and they need information sooner to plan their budgets,” said Minister Phillips. “That’s why we announced allocations for 2020 earlier than ever before, and why we’re committing today to maintain the funding envelope for next year.”

Moving forward, the province will continue to consult with municipalities on how to better focus the OMPF on communities that need it most, including small, northern and rural municipalities.

Ontario is also consulting with stakeholders on the province’s property tax system to enhance the accuracy and stability of property assessments. Municipalities rely on the more than $22 billion annually raised through the property tax system to fund local services. Minister Phillips announced today that the government will work with municipal partners to ensure vital services are supported, while building a competitive business environment that will attract investment and create jobs.

“Municipalities are critical partners in delivering services to the people of Ontario and we will continue to listen and work together to support people in every community across the province,” said Minister Phillips.

QUICK FACTS
As announced last year, the Province is investing $500 million in 389 municipalities across Ontario through the OMPF in 2020, to support local priorities in each community.

In October 2019, the government announced 2020 OMPF allocations, providing municipalities with detailed funding information earlier than ever before.

The main objectives of the OMPF are to:

recognize the challenges of small, northern and rural municipalities, while targeting funding to those with more challenging fiscal circumstances.

support areas with limited property assessment.

assist municipalities that are adjusting to year-over-year funding changes.

Property tax is the main revenue source for municipalities, raising more than $22 billion annually to fund local services.