Mayor O'Keefe Disappointed with Provincial Budget, 2014

The City of St. John’s is disappointed to see that the provincial government has made no substantive commitments in Budget 2014 towards addressing the fiscal relationship between municipalities and the province.

“We really expected to see at least a signal that the provincial government is serious about negotiating a new fiscal arrangement with municipalities,” said Mayor Dennis O’Keefe.

The City, along with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, has been advocating for a new fiscal relationship with the province for several years. Discussions finally got underway in 2013 and are expected to continue well into 2015.

“We recognize that it is a complex issue and it will take time to craft a comprehensive solution,” said Mayor O’Keefe.  “However, there are some immediate things the province could have done as a show of good faith, such as a partial rebate on HST or agreeing to obtain municipal building permits on provincial projects.”

In last year’s budget the provincial government eliminated Municipal Operating Grants to the seven largest municipalities. The City of St. John’s lost $3.5 Million per year. As partial compensation for that loss, the Province provided the City with a one-time capital funding of some $8.5 Million. The Province has announced a new $200 million multi-year capital works program, however St. John’s has not yet been advised of its share.

“Since there is no movement towards a new fiscal arrangement in this budget, we would, as a minimum, expect that our normal capital works allocation would again be ‘topped-up’ as an interim measure,” said Mayor O’Keefe.

For further information:
Jennifer Mills
Communications and Public Relations Officer
City of St. John's
Phone: (709) 570-2037
Cell: (709) 690-7586
E-mail: jmills@stjohns.ca