Book Description

PowerPoint Presentation Financing the Metropolis Presentation to International Symposium on Innovations and the Making of Metropolitan Identity Paris, France 27 November, 2013 Enid Slack Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance Munk School of Global Affairs University of Toronto Introduction Metropolitan areas are generally characterized by many small, fragmented local governments and publi. [...] busses, computer equipment, etc.) Empirical evidence shows economies of scale are service- specific: Some economies of scale in central administrative functions; services with large capital inputs e.g. [...] transportation, water and sewage systems Cities can also become too large - diseconomies of scale Canadian evidence: economies of scale for police at 50,000 people; for fire at 20,000 people (Found 2012) Evidence from Finland: economies of scale between 20,000 and 40,000 people (Moisio et al.) 8 Cost of Service Delivery Does consolidation/amalgamation reduce the cost of service delivery? . [...] user fee or earmarked tax) Easy to create politically; easy to disband; local autonomy; economies of scale; address externalities Potential problems of accountability; redistribution not automatic 15 Examples from Nine Federal Countries 16 Country Metropolitan Area Governance Model Australia South East Queensland (Brisbane) One-tier; strong state role Perth Fragmented local governments; strong. [...] Note: *Included in own-source revenues are some taxes over which the metropolitan government has limited flexibility over tax rate setting How Should Metropolitan Services be Financed? Metropolitan areas should have greater fiscal autonomy than other urban areas - greater responsibility for local services greater ability to levy own taxes, collect own revenues, and borrow for capital expendi.