Report recommendations could force some Nova Scotia municipalities to merge
Posted Oct 16, 2014 06:56:09 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – A new report contains 41 draft recommendations aimed at getting Nova Scotia’s fiscally ailing municipalities on their feet and sets up a review process that could see some municipalities merge.
Municipal Affairs Minister Mark Furey says he can’t say at this point whether any municipalities will be forced to merge in the future.
But Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities president Dave Corkum says future mergers could well happen under the recommendations, although he couldn’t say how many municipalities would eventually be affected.
Corkum says currently anywhere from five to 10 municipalities are facing “challenges.”
The report also calls for several tax and program reforms, which the Municipal Affairs Department says could provide an extra $21 million to municipal coffers.
Financial difficulties have already caused town councils in Springhill, Hantsport and Bridgetown to vote to dissolve and seek amalgamation with neighbouring municipalities.
Furey says municipalities will have until Dec. 15 to reply to the report in writing and he expects some action will begin on various recommendations early next year.
