A call for all political parties to work with local government for a new fiscal framework after the upcoming election, from the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick.
“Municipalities in New Brunswick have been underfunded for some time,” said Andrew Black, president of the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick. “We are asking that all parties, candidates and leaders running in the upcoming provincial election commit to implementing a new framework that will see municipalities adequately funded to deliver the many services they are responsible for.”
The UMNB is also asking for political parties to commit to collaborating with municipalities to address housing affordability to ensure the right kind of housing is built to support population growth. The Union is calling on the province’s next government to commit to conducting a comprehensive provincial policing review that includes a fair funding model that will ensure appropriate community presence and visibility.
Executive Director Dan Murphy says talks are currently ongoing for fiscal reform.
“We’re really hoping for is that the political parties are going to commit to carrying through fiscal reform through the election to make sure that this happens regardless of whatever party is in. It is critical to us that this gets completed.”
Black adds that they want to make sure if there is a change of government that they won’t have to start back at square one.
The UMNB is calling on each political party to commit to a better revenue-sharing model. One idea is that municipalities would receive a small portion of the HST collected in the province to allow them to better deliver key services like policing, water and sewerage, street paving, waste collection, regional economic development tourism and more. Similar models are already in place in Saskatchewan and Québec.
“What we are looking for is for municipalities to be adequately funded. The HST portion would be a nice revenue source for municipalities which would help fund us adequately, but we’ll wait and see how that happens as things play out through the fiscal reform process.”
The UMNB represents 56 local governments.
