KAGAWONG—Billings Township, Wawa and 109 other communities face a serious financial crisis if the Liberals proceed with planned cuts to the Power Dam Special Payment Programs, NDP MPP Michael Mantha said in the Ontario legislature last week.
“The Power Dam Special Payment Program is a very small program but the impact of the clawback is large on many small communities,” said Mr. Mantha, MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin. “The only way for communities to recapture the lost revenue is through a property taxation increase or by cutting services.”
The program was implemented in 2001 to replace the property taxation revenues associated with hydroelectric plants when they were deemed exempt. The payments from this program for these communities are significant contributions to the revenue base, explained Mr. Mantha.
Kathy McDonald, clerk of Billings Township, said the cuts in the program would have an affect on the municipality. “Basically for the township it’s just under $5,000 that we receive through this program so it won’t kill us, but for every revenue like this that we lose, the more taxpayers have to pay.”
“By itself the funds we received through the power dam program was $4,973.89 last year,” said Ms. McDonald. “Meanwhile our (provincial) OMPF funding is being cut back and we are facing increases in other areas like policing costs. When you put all of this together it is going to hurt our municipality.”
“This is one of the things we are looking at that are being cut by the province,” Mr. Mantha told the Recorder. “There are further proposed cuts to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) in terms of forest fire services. I’m hoping to get a complete rundown on all the cuts that are being made.”
“What will this government do to assist Wawa and 110 other communities affected by this significant loss of revenue due to the cuts your budget is implementing?” Mr. Mantha asked the Minister of Finance concerning the Power Dam Special Payment Program.
