AIMS tells Daily News: Cities should keep own houses in order
The federal government doesn't have the constitutional right to give cities new sources of revenue, nor is there any need for it to do so, says AIMS’ author Harry Kitchen in Financing City Services, the latest paper in AIMS’ Urban Futures Series. Instead, as the Daily News reports here, Kitchen argues that municipalities should learn to be more efficient and make better use of existing avenues to raise the funds they need to pay for services and upgrade their roads, bridges, sewers and other infrastructure.
Why are many drugs cheaper in Canada than the US? It isn’t what you think…
The debate over pharmaceutical prices is once again heating up as the re-importation issue gains more traction in the lead-up to the US elections. At a conference on drug re-importation sponsored by the Maine Public Policy Institute, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley was asked to explain why drug prices are lower in Canada
Federal Transfers not the only option for cities
In this interview with the Chronicle Herald, AIMS’ author Harry Kitchen says cities have all kinds of options for raising money short of a bailout from Ottawa. "I'm actually opposed to a federal government just transferring cash to cities," says Kitchen. He then remarks on the response of local mayoral candidates who argue many of Kitchen’s ideas do not fit the current progressive policies of municipal governments. Kitchen says existing tax rates and user fees actually hurt the lower class even more. "A lot of the income distribution issues are such that in fact they tend to benefit rich people instead of poor people when you don't ask people to pay specific fees."
AIMS Online, 15 September 2004
Accountability for environmentalists, no federal money for cities, understanding and allowing for risk in today's economy and society, plus reflections on our common continentla home (AIMS 10th anniversary dinner!), tuition fees and subsidies make up this week's AOL.
Cities don’t need federal bailout, AIMS author concludes
Current demands can be met by costing accurately and taxing fairly
Financing City Services
The federal government has no constitutional right to give cities access to new revenue sources and financing instruments, and should not participate with cities in revenue-sharing programs concludes Professor Harry Kitchen, author of Financing City Services: A prescription for the future, the latest paper in AIMS’ Urban Futures Series. Cities have become increasingly important players in the competitive global economy and have seen a dramatic increase in reliance on own-source revenues over the past 12 to 15 years. The result is the current call for a massive influx of federal dollars under a renewed national “cities agenda”, but Kitchen concludes that there is much the cities could do to put their own houses in order including changing assessment practices, improving development charges and replacing provincial gas taxes with municipal charges. Read his full paper to discover how cities can make it on their own.