Province Shifting Health Care Costs to Municipalities

by Bob Montgomery

Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan says until a few years ago the cost of healthcare was a twenty – eighty split between the municipalities and the provincial government.

McLellan says even then the feeling among most municipalities was that while healthcare wasn't a municipal responsibility, paying twenty per cent of the cost gave them a voice at the table, so it was worth it. But more recently, the province went to a thirty – seventy split, putting more of the burden onto the property tax base. Some of the smaller municipalities, like Huron County, were able to settle on a 25 – 75 split.

MacLellan says it appears that's about to change, because the county has told them their funding increase for the next three years will be one percent per year. There would be a significant increase in the cost to municipalities if they were to maintain the programs they've been delivering in the past. He says the increase in wages, inflation and the cost of running the programs would far exceed the one per cent increase from the province.

MacLellan says there are three options for municipalities. They are: take the allotment of money they get and provide only as many services as they can with that amount of money. Or, get the province to step up and provide more funding so they can continue to deliver the services they've been delivering. Or, increase property taxes to cover the new increase in healthcare costs. MacLellan says property taxes were never meant to cover healthcare. He says municipalities are very limited in how much they can increase property taxes and paying into healthcare isn't one of their options.

MacLellan says their position at this point is the municipality will provide as many services as they can with the money provided to them by the province and that's as far as they can go. They're not prepared to put the cost of healthcare onto property taxes. MacLellan says he expects most municipalities will share their view and they're asking for a delegation with the Minister at the ROMA Conference in January in Toronto to voice their concerns.