The Prince Edward-Hastings MPP says municipalities need more provincial and federal support, but an HST increase would not be the right way to do it.
This comes after the Association of Municipalities of Ontario put forward a request to increase HST from 13 cents on the dollar to 14 cents, with that money set aside for repairing and maintaining infrastructure. Premier Kathleen Wynne has already said the province would not look into the request as it would cause higher taxes for Ontarians.
MPP Todd Smith is also weighing in, saying he wouldn’t agree with increasing HST because taxes are already too high. But, Smith also says municipalities are having trouble maintaining their infrastructure, and the provincial and federal governments should be doing more to help.
Smith says the province can do more to help municipal infrastructure needs by cutting down on waste and mismanagement.
The AMO reports that Ontario’s municipalities will lose billions of dollars over the next 10 years to maintain current services and address infrastructure gaps.