Tillsonburg asks for sharing the wealth

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tillsonburg joined a number of other municipalities asking for a share of taxes collected on property transactions within its borders.

Deputy Mayor Dave Beres presented council with a motion that originated from Aurora calling on the province to share the Land Transfer Tax and GST collected on property transactions within its boundaries. The motion said current sources of municipal revenue are no longer sufficient to cover the growing infrastructure needs of municipalities. A letter about the motion was to be sent to the premier and prime minister’s offices.

Beres said Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas started the motion and claims 140 municipalities have already passed it.

“We can’t simply handle all these pass-me-downs from the province that they used to fund and aren’t funding,” Beres said.

He suggested Tillsonburg should jump on board, and noted that municipalities speaking out in the past worked with OPP contracts.

“This is a big step forward for all municipalities,” he said. “I think of the 140 and think we should do our part.”

Mayor Deb Gilvesy pointed out since a provincial election is underway, and a letter about the motion should be sent post-election instead of trying to guess the outcome.

Beres agreed with this point.

“It’s Tillsonburg people paying for this,” he said. “We’re just asking to get back the money Tillsonburg people are paying.”