Challinor Requests Province To Fully Fund Hospital Construction

Mr. Challinor’s motion was seconded by Ward 1 Local & Regional Councillor Colin Best.

Mr. Challinor noted that one-third of the Town of Milton’s 2022 debt charges come from its provincially-dictated $30.3 million contribution to the expansion of Milton District Hospital and, as a result, this contribution limits the Town’s ability to add additional monies to reserves and/or borrow monies to fund critical municipal infrastructure.

Given the Province of Ontario agreed in 1997 to fund the expansion of the hospital with no financial participation by the Town, yet made the Town’s financial participation a requirement for getting the expansion in 2016, Mr. Challinor argued that the Province should provide full financial relief to the Town in the amount of $30.3 million so that the Town can fund critical growth-related municipal infrastructure. Failing that, the Province should permit development charges to be deployed by the Town to fund hospital construction and/or expansion because it is growth-related infrastructure.

Mr. Challinor also argued that local property taxpayers are already funding hospital expansion and/or new hospital construction through the income taxes they pay to Ontario. Further funding these programs through their property taxes is a form of double-taxation, he concluded.

Milton Mayor Gord Krantz has written letters to Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott requesting the province immediately stop requesting financial participation by local municipalities in hospital expansions and new hospital construction, return funding to those municipalities like Milton where financial participation was required and, failing that, permit municipalities to use development charges to fund such infrastructure. CR