Search Results for: IMFG Paper

This paper makes the case for a local business tax. The BVT is better than the discriminatory and heavy real property taxes currently levied on businesses in Ontario and other provinces. Moreover, such a tax would be complementary rather than competitive to VATs like the GST and HST.
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Three major trends are buffeting provincial-municipal arrangements in Ontario. The first is a growing recognition of the role cities and metropolitan regions play as centres of growth and national prosperity. The second is increasing complexity in the provincial-municipal relationship. The third is the emergence of threats to the fiscal health of Ontario municipalities.
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The paper first sets out the theory of expenditure assignment with respect to decentralizing infrastructure expenditure, and then considers how practice around the developing world appears to differ from what that theory appears to suggest.
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Following the 2002 amalgamation, half Montréal’s pre-amalgamation suburbs de-merged in 2006, leading to the creation of a smaller megacity with 19 decentralized boroughs. This paper identifies factors that affect the capacity of Montréal’s boroughs to fulfil their responsibilities.
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This paper reviews different ways in which the formal governance of metropolitan areas may be restructured, such as through two-tier structures, voluntary cooperation, special districts, and municipal mergers. It includes a case study of the amalgamation in Toronto.
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This paper describes and evaluates density for benefit agreements (DBAs) in Toronto and Vancouver. DBAs allow municipalities to secure cash contributions or amenities from developers in return for allowing developers to exceed currently prevailing height and density restrictions.
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This paper analyzes economies of scale for two municipal services by considering how per-household municipal costs are affected by a municipality’s size. An econometric model is used to estimate costs associated with fire and police services using data for 445 municipalities in the Province of Ontario.
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This paper examines the system of municipal finance in Hungary with special attention to the current changes in the regulation and finance of Hungarian municipalities and the change in central control over municipal finances in general after 2008, and suggests possible reforms.
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