This past week, the City of Kingston presented their priorities at the Ontario government’s 2014 pre-budget consultation in Kingston.

The City is calling on the province to adjust the ‘heads and beds’ funding municipalities receive in lieu of property taxes for provincial hospitals, colleges and universities, introduce longer term sustainable infrastructure funding, and invest in programs to support and enable economic development.

“Since 2007 the City of Kingston has advocated for a change to the ‘heads and beds’ policy,” said Mark Gerretsen, Mayor of Kingston. “People say there is strength in numbers; we have over 50 municipalities across Ontario continuing to ask for this change – now is the time for the government and the other parties to take this seriously.”

The City of Kingston was selected to present to the Ontario Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs in Kingston on January 23 as part of the government’s 2014 Pre-Budget Consultations.

This is the third year in a row the City of Kingston has made a formal submission for the Ontario Pre-Budget Consultations. In 2012, the City presented to the standing committee at Queen’s Park in Toronto. In 2013 the City was not selected to present to the committee but provided a written submission on the need for dedicated infrastructure funding, ‘heads and beds’ and the continuation of the social services upload.

“Making our case to the province is an important part of our advocacy each year,” said Gerretsen. “We take every opportunity we can to show the different levels of government the important work we are doing locally and remind them what our priorities are.”

The government’s pre-budget consultations wrap up at the end of January and the 2014 Ontario Budget is expected to be unveiled at Queen’s Park in the spring.

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Release source: City of Kingston