THE DEBT GAME
We hear a lot of talk about municipal debt and other such topics that the public are being lead down a garden path that all is great, all is fine.
The BMA study is a study that comes out that measures municipal finance health on debt per capita and other areas that ensure the factual to numbers are in the public domain.
So how is your municipality doing?
Well the average municipal debt per person in Ontario is $198 (remember per person), so in Durham Region, reportable debt is as follows:
Brock $104
Clarington $196
Pickering $234
Oshawa $548 (nearly 3 times the Ontario avg)
While debt is an inevitable part of government with crumbling assets, we must be very careful with the issuance of debt. For example, Durham Regions excellent triple A credit rating could very well be impacted by rogue debt spending and that would effect the interest rates paid for every city and the region itself.
We must be even more stringent at the Region as the Region is in charge of debenture (debt) issuance and poor financial health and budgeting in once city could effect every taxpayer in Durham. This will NOT happen on my watch.
Till next week
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