Ontario provides funding for large municipalities and school boards to conduct line-by-line reviews: Will help find 4% savings and protect services

For Immediate Release
May 23rd, 2019

WOODSTOCK — The Ontario government is offering to help large municipalities and school boards such as Thames Valley District School Board protect core public services for future generations by providing tools to help them identify savings of four cents on every dollar spent.

The Ontario government is providing $7.35 million through the Audit and Accountability Fund to help large municipalities and school boards interested in conducting line-by-line reviews to identify potential savings while maintaining vital front-line services. In addition, Municipal Modernization Funding was given to Oxford municipalities in March.

“Our government is committed to working with school boards such as Thames Valley District School Board to protect front-line services and to ensure resources are focused on providing the very best quality in education,” said Ernie Hardeman, MPP Oxford. “The introduction of the Audit and Accountability Fund will help partners find four cents on the dollar in savings and is part of our approach in providing sustainable public services for our children and grandchildren.”

By providing resources through the Audit and Accountability Fund, the government is offering to help empower large municipalities and school boards work towards the shared goal of returning the province to fiscal balance while making sure vital programs and services are maintained. In Ontario, over 90% of provincial spending goes towards funding school boards, hospitals, municipalities and other outside organizations.

“Our government was elected to fix 15 years of Liberal mismanagement, put the province on a path to balance and protect services like health care and education,” said Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario. “But the previous Liberal government was using the credit card to pay the mortgage and with interest payments costing our province $38 million a day, we can’t do it alone. We campaigned on finding four cents for every provincial dollar spent and we are asking our partners to do the same.”

In the 2019 Ontario Budget, Protecting What Matters Most, the government put forward a plan that sets Ontario on the right path to achieve savings of four cents on the dollar, building on work done to realize four cents on the dollar in cost avoidance.

The government’s plan also saw an increase in funding for health care, post-secondary education and municipal transformation, while moving forward on reducing the province’s debt burden.

“Municipalities and district school boards now have the tools they need to find real savings and protect what matters most to the people of Ontario,” said Ford. “Our government is ready and willing to roll up our sleeves and work with anyone who shares our priority of returning Ontario to fiscal health.”

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For more information:

Ernie Hardeman, Oxford MPP
Tel: (519) 537-5222