The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities may find it tough to find support for its proposal to raise the provincial portion of the HST by one percent.
FONOM proposed the increase as a means to help northern communities with their infrastructure.
FONOM says northern communities are having a tough time and are falling behind with projects because they don’t have enough money.
However it says revenue generated by the additional one percent on the HST would be sent to northern towns and cities for infrastructure work.
But Peter Chirico, the President of the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce, says increasing the HST is the wrong approach.
“Any time you increase taxes, it has a direct impact on buying,” Chirico said.
“It’s not something that’s buried, it hits taxpayers.”
Chirico agrees the north has special challenges and hopes the new government resurrects the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund.
He says the OMPF program recognized the needs of the north and provided grants municipalities spent on infrastructure.
Chirico said when he was deputy mayor and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli was Mayor of North Bay, the council of the day fought to change the OMPF funding formula claiming it was flawed.
Eventually the Ontario Liberals cancelled it altogether.
However Chirico believes that because of his familiarity with the former program, he hopes Fedeli looks at a revised format once the Progressive Conservatives take power next week.
Chirico says there’s something else FONOM should consider if it pushes the one percent HST increase and it becomes a reality.
“I believe it will spawn a lot of other requests from other interest groups right across Ontario,” he said.
“The OMPF was flawed in some areas, but it worked for 25 years and I believe that’s how we should go.”
North Bay Mayor Al McDonald and the Mayor of Sault Ste. Marie also oppose raising the HST by one percent.