[DOWNLOAD] "Municipal Consolidation, Regional Planning and Fiscal Accountability: The Recent Experience in Two Maritime Provinces." by Canadian Journal of Regional Science ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Municipal Consolidation, Regional Planning and Fiscal Accountability: The Recent Experience in Two Maritime Provinces.
- Author : Canadian Journal of Regional Science
- Release Date : January 22, 2000
- Genre: Social Science,Books,Nonfiction,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 276 KB
Description
In the recent debates on municipal consolidation in Canada, the importance of regional planning has emerged as an important aspect of the discourse. The advocacy for consolidation has been particularly apparent in regions affected by rapid physical change. A number of Canadian provinces experiencing rapid population growth in suburban and rural regions -- including Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia -- have advocated consolidation to try to address the dilemmas associated with population spillovers. Establishing new boundaries that encompass the whole area of geographic expansion and in the process establishing a single coordinating political administration, is considered beneficial for both the urbanised municipality and the neighbouring jurisdiction where the population overflow is occurring. The single government is expected to provide much more effective regional planning, allowing the municipality increased capability to deal with issues associated with environmental protection, infrastructure investment and waste management. One particularly important area of concern within the context of regional planning is fiscal accountability. Several provinces have expressed concern over residential and business investors locating just beyond urbanised boundaries, making extensive use of more expensive customised services in the urban jurisdiction, while paying lower rural tax rates (Nova Scotia 1992; New Brunswick 1992; Quebec 1996a, 1996b, 1996c; Vojnovic 1998, 2000a). Thus, while paying only rural rates these residents are able to make use of both the services provided to them by the rural district, and many of the more expensive services available in the urban areas -- such as recreation facilities, libraries and schools with more customised educational amenities. This is the classic dilemma of externalities. It is a common concern in rapidly growing urban regions where population growth spills over beyond municipal boundaries.