As part of the Province’s pre-budget consultations, AMCTO has put together a 2026 pre-budget submission that focuses on recommendations to modernize municipal operations, enabling municipalities to use their resources more effectively and ensuring they have the necessary tools to carry out their responsibilities.
Our recommendations to the Province are:
- Commit to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO)’s call for a social and economic prosperity review, with the goal of ensuring municipalities have revenue streams appropriate for the services they are expected to deliver.
- We know that municipalities have limited revenue streams and relying on the municipal property tax base is not sustainable, especially for many rural and northern communities that are not seeing assessment growth, nor is it an appropriate source of funding for services such as health and social programs, which municipalities are increasingly expected to deliver. That’s why we continue to call on the Province to work with municipalities to review what levels of government are responsible for public programs and services to better address service delivery needs. For services municipalities are expected to deliver, AMCTO continues to call for reliable and consistent funding sources.
- Complete the Property Tax and Assessment System Review and ensure that the next assessment cycle starts as soon as possible.
- The property tax and assessment system has been stalled for far too long. A modernized assessment system that is transparent, up to date, and reliable is essential to give residents and businesses the certainty they deserve. We’re calling on the Province to communicate with municipalities, which will hear the concerns of residents first-hand, as to the anticipated timeline of the completion of this review and launch of the next assessment cycle.
- Modernize the legislative and regulatory environment to improve local service delivery.
- We know that outdated legislation creates administrative and financial burdens on municipalities. In our submission, we highlight several examples of legislative and regulatory changes that the government should consider to help municipalities make the best use of their resources and avoid spending extra time navigating red tape.
We look forward to the release of the 2026 budget, which is anticipated in the spring, and hope to see recognition of municipalities’ priorities.