Residents in northern Ontario township present petition to Queen's Park after 34% tax hike

Some residents of a northern Ontario township want the province's Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to intervene with their municipal finances.

This year's budget for Black River-Matheson, east of Timmins, had a 34 per cent tax increase.

Resident Pauline Francis said council passed the budget without any public consultation.

Francis said the steep tax increase came as a shock to many residentsand it would be difficult for some people, like seniors on fixed incomes, to pay higher taxes.

"I want to see municipal affairs come in here," Francis told CBC News.

"I want them to do an investigation. We have to clean up this mess."

Francis said she went door to door to collect signatures for the petition, and more than 70 per cent of eligible residents have signed it.

She has presented the petition to local MPP John Vanthof, who will present it at Queen's Park.

Black River-Matheson Mayor Doug Bender said council had to raise taxes due to mistakes made by the previous council.

"The previous council decided that it was easier to take money from our reserve funds to balance the budget instead of hitting taxpayers with a large increase," he said.

"But now those reserve funds are depleted and we don't have the money left to deal with infrastructure or emergencies."

Bender admitted it was a mistake not to consult with residents before raising the tax levy.

But he said the people behind the petition, including Francis, have not reached out to him to discuss the reasons for the tax hike.

Bender added he does not believe the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing will need to intervene with the township's budgeting decisions.

"Based on what I'm hearing, Municipal Affairs has no concerns whatsoever as to the management of our municipality," he said.