FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2004

LIBERAL GOVERNMENT FUNDING FORMULA FLAWED

The McGuinty government plans to distribute revenue from the gasoline tax to municipalities based primarily on transit ridership numbers rather than looking at population numbers. This scheme puts money into the hands of those municipalities that already have transit systems at the expense of those who do not, even though all drivers in the province pay the gasoline tax..

“The system they are using to distribute the money clearly puts smaller communities at a disadvantage,” said Laurie Scott. “If Dalton McGuinty had opted to use a population based model for distributing this money, our communities would have been much better off.”

If the McGuinty Liberals had used a population-based formula, the City of Kawartha Lakes would have received $881,837 for their population of 69,179. That contrasts sharply with the $339,877 that they will be receiving. Other local communities fare no better. While the gasoline tax is collected from all drivers across Ontario, only 105 of Ontario’s 455 municipalities will receive funding from the gas tax.

Provincial Liberals do not seem to understand the transportation needs of communities outside of already built up areas.”

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