{"id":33,"date":"2023-12-13T04:18:26","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T04:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/?p=33"},"modified":"2023-12-13T23:09:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T23:09:07","slug":"second-post-for-the-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/2023\/12\/13\/second-post-for-the-news\/","title":{"rendered":"If peel Breaks-severe financial consequences for Brampton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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As the Ford government considers whether to reverse its decision to dissolve Peel Region, there is a new, yet-to-be-released report that shows breaking up Peel would have severe financial consequences for Brampton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown has been publicly lobbying to try and stop the break up of Peel since it was first announced earlier this year by the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, he released data from an updated Deloitte report that he maintains concludes if Peel were dissolved, property taxes would rise by 17 per cent in Mississauga, 34 per cent in Brampton and 256 per cent in Caledon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this new report, Brown hired KPMG to examine the consequences for Brampton. Using publicly available data, it concludes that if Brampton becomes an independent municipality, it would have a budget hole of nearly $72 million, every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown tells CityNews he hasn\u2019t seen even seen the report yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt does sound [like it] reflects what all the other reports reports have shown, which is taxes will skyrocket, costs will skyrocket,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said once he receives the report himself, he plans to pass the information to the province. \u201cEvery piece of evidence shows this and confirms that this is the trainwreck we have shared with the province. I believe that the data is on the side of the argument I\u2019ve been making and so I think the more transparency to the province on all this information is helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no upside to splitting Peel,\u201d said the CityNews source. CityNews is not identifying the source as they\u2019re not authorized to speak on the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is inevitable taxes would go up for all three. There is no way you can take shared resources, break it up and be more efficient,\u201d the source added. \u201cIf there is a financial upside, it will take 50, 60, 70 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added Mississauga has been subsidizing Peel at over 60 per cent for 50 years now and said Brown \u201cneeds to get his financial house in order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s afraid that opening his books might reveal a much bigger financial problem for the residents and taxpayers of Brampton.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one wants to see taxes in any of our cities skyrocket as a result of dissolution. We can achieve a good deal for everyone, if we just let the process continue,\u201d said Crombie in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this week, she also disputed Brown\u2019s numbers from the Deloitte report. \u201cNo one has seen this report, it\u2019s based on false premises.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caledon mayor Annette Groves has also urged the province to rethink its plan to dissolve Peel Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peel Region\u2019s acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kate Bingham expressed concern over the dissolution at a recent council meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my professional opinion that it\u2019s not possible to do this without significant risk to the community, and certainly not without significant disruptions on the current timeline,\u201d said Dr. Bingham in the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn order to even attempt this, we would need clear provincial direction as soon as possible and would need to reduce many services to entirely focus on our most critical, time-sensitive, functions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Bingham said the dissolution could impact children\u2019s dental services, student immunizations, inspections and infection case management and she has a professional and ethical responsibility to call attention to the problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am being placed in a position where I am being asked to plan for a transition that I cannot endorse, and to hold professional and ethical responsibility for a process that I do not control, and that is not an emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Regional Chair has passed along Dr. Bingham\u2019s concerns to the transition board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, this is a provincial plan and the Ford government\u2019s decision. The Ford government passed the Hazel McCallion Act in May, setting the dissolution process in motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCallion, the former Mississauga mayor, lobbied for years before she died to sever Mississauga\u2019s link to Brampton and Caledon. The source said the government moved too fast and didn\u2019t assess the financial implications of dissolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Progressive Conservatives may be realizing the same thing. Minister of Municipal Affairs Paul Calandra said this week he\u2019s still making up his mind whether the split will go ahead. \u201cI\u2019ve made no decisions,\u201d he said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His words came after sources confirmed to CityNews that Ford had been reconsidering the dissolution plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings of the KPMG report put Premier Doug Ford in a bind as municipalities are not allowed to run deficits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dissolution of Peel is set to take place in January 2025. That means Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon would likely have to cut services, raise taxes significantly, or both, to make up the shortfall right before the provincial election in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no way this government will let property owners shoulder a burden they couldn\u2019t afford,\u201d Calandra added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown said he believes the province is listening. \u201cI understand they\u2019ve been shocked by the potential tax increases and reduce service levels. And so I do believe the flurry of evidence that is being presented to the province is having resonance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says he\u2019ll keep fighting until they walk the decision back, adding \u201cit\u2019s never the wrong time to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The source believes it\u2019s only a matter of time: \u201cIt\u2019s a mess, everyone has their best interests in mind. The easiest thing for Ford is to pull the plug.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–courtesy CityNews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Ford government considers whether to reverse its decision to dissolve Peel Region, there is a new, yet-to-be-released report that shows breaking up Peel would have severe financial consequences for Brampton. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown has been publicly lobbying to try and stop the break up of Peel since it was first announced earlier […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95,"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/95"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ksaxena.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}