“The City of Brampton never supported the dissolution of Peel. For decades, all three municipalities have invested and benefited from the pooling of our resources in infrastructure and shared services. The uncertainty of dissolution has caused an exodus of regional staff, putting into question our ability to deliver services such as paramedics and public health.
There is certainly opportunity to find efficiencies and improve the equitable distribution of infrastructure and services across the region. But dismantling it completely would result in a financial disaster for all residents and would cause significant delay and detriment to the province’s top priority of building more housing, in Canada’s fastest growing region. There is still time to do the right thing and I hope the sentiment to halt dissolution will become a reality soon.”
Rowena Santos Regional Councillor Brampton Wards 1&5
BRAMPTON, ON (December 1, 2023) – Independent data recently updated has confirmed that dissolving the Region of Peel would create serious financial hardship and uncertainty for the taxpayers of Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon.
Deloitte updated the 2019 data produced for the Region of Peel and combined with inflation, high interest rates and other factors, the City of Brampton determined that if the dissolution of the current upper tier governance structure were to occur now – taxpayers across all three lower-tier municipalities in Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon would see catastrophic financial impacts.
This includes an additional $1.31 billion in operating costs and a one time tax increase of 38% across the three municipalities. These outcomes are consistent with independent reviews first completed in 2019, only with further exacerbated financial implications for taxpayers.
It was also highlighted that dissolution could risk and negatively impact the stewardship of assets and services offered to citizens across all three municipalities, including essential and critical emergency services. This uncertainty and disruption of adequate servicing would also impede all municipalities’ ability to deliver on and support the provincial priority of more housing options for citizens.
“We never asked for the Region of Peel to be dissolved. We have always asked for redundancy to be removed. The independent financial analysis clearly shows the net result would be a financial disaster for Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. It would result in the largest tax increase in Peel Region’s history. The Province of Ontario and the Transition Board really need to revisit this decision and take a long, hard look at the data collected by their officials. Taxpayers already struggling with high interest rates and inflation can’t afford the largest tax increase in history.”
“The dissolution financial train wreck would be an albatross around the necks of taxpayers in Peel Region. To make matters worse, we are hearing growing concerns from emergency services in Peel that the division of their departments would result in acute problems. The instability in Peel Region with this exercise is causing major retention and recruitment challenges for critical EMS staffing. We will be sharing more about this next week.”
––Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown
The City remains committed to continuing working closely with the Province and Transition Board on a path forward that is in the best interest of taxpayers in Brampton and across the Region of Peel.
Background
On May 18, 2023, the Province of Ontario introduced Bill 112, Hazel McCallion Act (Peel Dissolution), 2023 with the intent to make Brampton, Caledon, and Mississauga single-tier municipalities and dissolve the Region of Peel by January 1, 2025.
Earlier this year, the Province of Ontario established a Transition Board to help ensure an effective, efficient and fair outcome for the three municipalities that prioritizes frontline services and workers, respect for taxpayers and seamless delivery of the vital services that communities depend on. The City continues to work collaboratively with the Transition Board.
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Media Contact
Anitpal (Nitu) Grewal
Community Outreach & Media Relations Wards 1 & 5
City of Brampton, Council Office
2 Wellington Street West, Brampton ON, L6Y 4R2
T: 905-874-5929 l C: 437-331-4555
Anitpal.Grewal@Brampton.ca
