Selected Resources on Municipal FinanceFor materials from events we have hosted, please click here.
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Selected Presentations on Municipal Finance and Governance
Infrastructure Planning and Financing. Enid Slack gave a presentation at a workshop on “Governance of Metropolitan Regions in Federal Systems,” sponsored by the European Union Committee of the Regions and the Forum of Federations, in Brussels, Belgium, June 21, 2011.
New Tools for New Times: Innovative Infrastructure Financing, Funding, and Delivery. A presentation by Casey G. Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, at Canada West Foundation, organized by IMFG at the Munk School of Global Affairs, June 9, 2011.
The Role of the Property Tax in Financing Local Government. A presentation by Enid Slack at the IPTI International Conference, Dublin, Ireland, May 10, 2011.
Policy Issues on the Introduction of Land/Site Value Taxation. A presentation by Enid Slack at the IPTI/IRRV Workshop in Dublin, Ireland, May 9, 2011.
The Next Urban Economy: can Toronto be a Global Leader? Greg Clark gave a presentation at a workshop held at the Munk School of Global Affairs, co-organized by IMFG and PROGRIS, May 5th, 2011.
Landlocked: Exploring Institutional Inertia on Toronto's Waterfront, 1960-2000. As part of its 2011 Graduate Seminar Series, IMFG hosted a presentation by Gabriel Eidelman (Doctoral Candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto), April 28th, 2011.
Preparing for the Costs of Extreme Weather in Canadian Cities: Issues, Tools, Ideas. As part of its 2011 Graduate Seminar Series, IMFG hosted a presentation by Cayley Burgess (Master of Public Policy Candidate, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto), April 20th, 2011.
Development charges across Canada: Can they be used to promote sustainability? As part of its 2011 Graduate Seminar Series, IMFG hosted a presentation by Mia Baumeister (Master of Urban and Regional Planning Candidate, University of Toronto), April 13th, 2011.
Funding Municipal Infrastructure: Roles and Responsibilities of Government. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Western Canada Roadbuilders & Heavy Construction Association’s annual Infrastructure Forum in Laguna Beach, California, March 23, 2011.
Rethinking the Property Tax in Ontario –Where Do We Go From Here? A presentation by Enid Slack to the International Property Tax Institute Workshop in Toronto, February 24, 2011.
New Tools for New Times: Innovative Infrastructure Financing, Funding, and Delivery. Canada West Foundation’s Casey Vander Ploeg made a presentation to an infrastructure summit in Regina, January, 2011.
Paying for Urban Growth: Putting Calgary’s Experience in Context. Canada West Foundation’s Casey Vander Ploeg made a presentation, October 27, 2010.
Tackling Volatility and Business Over-Taxation: What is BC Doing? Enid Slack made a presentation at the 44th Annual CPTA National Workshop in Quebec City, September 28, 2010.
Municipal Port Property Tax Commission. Enid Slack presented this final report to the Port Cities Committee of Metro Vancouver, September 2010.
Financing Canadian Municipalities. South African Study Tour, University of Toronto, June 2010.
Paying the Bills in the City of Toronto. Maytree Leadership Conference 2010, May 2010.
OECD Experience on Municipal Finance under Federalism: Implications for India. International Roundtable on India Municipal Finance Study, Korea Institute of Public Finance, Seoul, Korea in May 2010.
Options for Mobilizing Local Revenue. Presentation to the IPTI 13th Annual International Conference in Adelaide, Australia, April 2010.
Municipal Property Tax Policy. IPTI Workshop II: Municipal Property Tax Policy and Rate Modeling, in Adelaide, Australia, April 2010.
Local Government Challenges with the Property Tax. A presentation by Enid Slack at the AEC Information Session in Toronto, March 2010.
Finance and Governance of Capital Cities in Federal Systems. A presentation by Enid Slack and Rupak Chattopadhyay at the University of Toronto, February 2010.
Assessment Limits: Could We Live with the Consequences? A presentation by Enid Slack to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario, August 2009.
Formulating Property Tax Strategies: Local Autonomy and Taxation. A presentation by Enid Slack to the International Property Tax Institute and the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation conference, Warsaw, Poland, June 2009.
Assessment Limits to Address Volatility: Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease? A presentation by Enid Slack to the Institute of Municipal Assessors, Huntsville, Ontario, June 2009.
The Fiscal Situation of Canadian Cities: Opportunities in the Economic Downturn? A presentation by Enid Slack to the Association des économistes québécois, Montreal, Quebec, May 2009.
The Maturing Metropolis? A Discussion About the City of Toronto a Decade After Amalgamation. A presentation by André Côté at the University of Toronto, March 2009.
The Never-Ending Story of Property Tax Reform in Ontario, Canada: Lessons for Other Countries? A presentation by Enid Slack to the Seminar on Property Rates, Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, January 2009.
Governing Metropolitan Areas: An International Perspective on Single-Tier Cities. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Municipal Demarcation Board, South Africa, January 2009.
Municipal Tax Policy Options: Ontario 2009. A presentation by Enid Slack to the AEC Information Breakfast, October 2008.
Financing Municipal Services and Infrastructure in Canada. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Eko Akete Summit IV, in Lagos, Nigeria, July 2008.
What Roles, Responsibilities, Financial Tools for Local Governments? A presentation by Enid Slack to the Round Table on Renewing Local Governance in Atlantic Canada, June 9, 2008.
Dollars and Sense: The Need for Municipal Finance Reform. A presentation by Canada West Foundation’s Casey Vander Ploeg to the International Property Tax Institute in Calgary, June 5, 2008.
Taxing Non-Residential Properties: Issues and Practices. A presentation by Enid Slack to the 3rd Mass Appraisal Valuation Symposium of the International Property Tax Institute, on May 8, 2008.Measuring the Fiscal Health of Urban Local Governments in Canada. A presentation by Enid Slack to the World Bank Institute in Partnership and National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, India and Washington DC, April 25, 2008.
Bringing Broader Resources to Bear: Chicago's Foray into Public-Private Partnerships. Presentations by Dana Levenson, Blake Hutcheson and Andy Manahan at the Institute on Municipal Finance and Toronto Community Foundation's speaker series, "Toronto's Future: At What Cost and Who's Paying," April 15, 2008. (For Mr. Levenson's accompanying speech, click here.)
Theory and Practice of Property Tax Relief: Recommendations of the Vancouver Property Tax Policy Review Commission. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Canadian Property Tax Association, February 11, 2008.
Municipal Roles, Responsibilities, Resources and Relationships. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, November 29, 2007.
Municipal Options for Revenue Mobilization. A presentation by Enid Slack to an International Seminar on Property Taxation in Salvador, Brazil, November 21, 2007.
Provincial-Municipal Fiscal Transfers in Canada. A presentation by Enid Slack to a workshop on Fiscal Transfer Payments organized by the Budget Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China and the Canadian Parliamentary Centre in Beijing, China, July 23, 2007.
Mobilization of Local Revenues. A presentation by Enid Slack to the International Property Tax Institute conference, June 19, 2007
Municipal Fiscal Imbalance in Canada. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Senate Committee on National Finance, May 16, 2007.
A Comparison of Municipal Responsibilities and Resources. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Union des Municipalités du Québec, May 10, 2007.
Toronto's Competitive (Dis)advantage? Using Policy Levers Effectively. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Roundtable on Economic Competitiveness and Social Cohesion, sponsored by the City of Toronto, April 5, 2007.
Municipal Finance in Canada. A presentation by Enid Slack to a Chinese parliamentary delegation, March 19, 2007.
Beyond the Gas Tax: Closing Toronto's Fiscal Gap. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Toronto City Summit Alliance, February 26, 2007.
Planning in Toronto: What’s the problem?, at the *All About Planning* symposium, December 6, 2006.
Paul Bedford, Urban mentor and former Chief Planner for the City of Toronto
Julie Di Lorenzo, President, Diamante Development Corporation
Gary Wright, City of Toronto Planning Department
Amenities for Density: Section 37 of the Planning Act, at the *All About Planning* symposium, December 6, 2006.
John Lorinc, Urban Affairs Journalist, Opening Remarks
Larry Beasley, planning consultant and former Director of Planning for the City of Vancouver
Ted Tyndorf, Chief Planner, City of Toronto,
Municipal Fiscal Imbalance Across Canada. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities 8th Annual Convention, Winnipeg, November 30, 2006.
Tools to Affect Land Use Decisions. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Leading Edge 2006 Conference, Niagara Escarpment Commission, Burlington, Ontario, October 5, 2006.
The Fiscal Basis for Civic Endeavour. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Conference on “Building Spaces that Work: A Canada-Brazil Dialogue Devoted to Enhancing the Public Realm,” October 20, 2005.
Governing Large Cities: A Comparative Perspective. A presentation by Ronald Vogel to the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance at the Munk Centre, University of Toronto, October 19, 2005.
Assessment Under Threat. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, October 18, 2005.
Policy Options for Taxing Real Property. A presentation by Enid Slack to the IPTI Conference in Prague, Czech Republic , August 23, 2005.
Financing Local Government Capital Investment. A presentation by Enid Slack to the International Workshop on Local Public Finance and Governance, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, August 2, 2005.
The Role of Local Government in Regional/Local Economic Development. A presentation by Enid Slack to the International Workshop on Local Public Finance and Governance, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, August 2, 2005.
Economic Benefits of Smart Growth. A presentation by Bruce Katz, The Brookings Institute, to the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance, May 12, 2005.
Revenue Options for Canadian Municipalities. A presentation by Enid Slack to the Canadian National Summit on Municipal Governance, July 11, 2005
Articles, Papers, and Publications on Municipal Finance and Governance
Grewal, San, 2011. "Is it bad for cities to be in debt? Not necessarily." An interview with Enid Slack, David Amborski, and senior staff in the City of Toronto's finance department, published in The Toronto Star on August 14, 2011.
Bird, Richard, 2011. “Subnational Taxation in Developing Countries: A Review of the Literature.” A paper in the Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011), 1-23.
Hazel, George, 2010. "The Future for Transport in the GTHA is Complete Mobility." A paper presented at IMFG, Munk School of Global Affairs, on October 19, 2010.
Slack. Enid, 2010. “The Property Tax…In Theory and Practice.” This paper was presented at the 6th Symposium on Fiscal Federalism: Financing Local Governments, Barcelona, 14-15 June 2010. This was the second in a series of Working Papers published by IMFG.
Slack, Enid. 2010. Financing Large Cities and Metropolitan Areas. This paper was presented by Enid Slack to the 6th Symposium on Fiscal Federalism on Financing Local Governments, June 2010.
Bird, Richard. 2010. “Local Government Finance: Trends and Questions.” An earlier version was presented at the 6th Symposium on Fiscal Federalism: Financing Local Governments, Barcelona, 14-15 June 2010. This was the first in a series of Working Papers published by IMFG.
Slack, Enid. 2010. "Assessment Limits for Ontario: Could We Live with the Consequences?" Prepared for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
Bird, Richard, Francois Vallaincourt, and Edison-Roy Cesar. 2010. "Is Decentralization the "Glue" or "Solvent" for National Unity."
Bird, Richard, and Govinda Rao. 2010. "Urban Governance and Finance in India". Prepared for the Rotman School of Management.
Slack, Enid, and Rupak Chattopadhyay, eds. 2009. "Finance and Governance of Capital Cities in Federal Systems." McGill Queens University Press: Kingston, Ontario.
Bird, Richard, Loren Brandt, Scott Rozelle, and Linxiu Zhang. 2009. "Fiscal Reform and Rural Public Finance in China." Prepared for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Slack, Enid. 2009. "Provincial-Local Fiscal Transfers in Canada: Provincial Control Trumps Local Accountability." Prepared for the 2009 Copenhagen Conference on General Grants vs. Earmarked Grants: Theory and Practice.
Bird, Richard, and Smart, Michael. 2009. "Earmarked Grants and Accountability in Government." Prepared for the 2009 Copenhagen Conference on General Grants vs. Earmarked Grants: Theory and Practice.
Bird, Richard, and Smart, Michael. 2009. "Assigning State Taxes in a Federal Country: The Case of Australia." Prepared for the 2009 Australia Future Tax System Conference.
Côté, André. 2009. "The Maturing Metropolis: Governance in Toronto a Decade on from Amalgamation." Prepared for the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance.
Bird, Richard. 2009. "Local Business Taxes in Developing Countries." Prepared for the Workshop on Raising Taxes Through Regulation, held by FIAS/World Bank, Washington.
Slack, Enid. 2009. "Governing Metropolitan Areas: An International Perspective on Single-Tier Cities." Prepared for the South African Municipal Demarcation Board.
TD Economics. 2009.Toronto Faces Large Funding Burden for Social Assistance. Special Report.
Slack, Enid. 2008. Property Tax Incentives and Economic Development: A Review of the Literature and Implications for Toronto. Prepared for the Toronto Office Coalition.
Bird, Richard, and Slack, Enid. 2008. "Cities in Canadian Federalism," Policy Options, December-January 2008, Vol.29, No. 1.
Bird, Richard. 2008. “Tax Assignment Revisited,” chapter in Tax Reform in the 21st Century, eds. John Head and Richard Krever.
Bird, Richard and Christine Wong. 2008. “China’s Fiscal System: A Work in Progress,” in Loren Brandt and Thomas G. Rawski, eds., China’s Great Transformation: Origins, Mechanisms, and Consequences of the Post-Reform Economic Boom, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 429-66.
Vander Ploeg, Casey. 2008. Problematic Property Tax: Why the Property Tax Fails to Measure Up and What to Do About It. Calgary: Canada West Foundation.
Slack, Enid, Stanley Hamilton and Peter Adams. 2007. "Final Report of the City of Vancouver Property Tax Policy Review Commission." Prepared for the City of Vancouver.
Slack, Enid. 2007. "Managing the Coordination of Service Delivery in Metropolitan Cities: The Role of Metropolitan Governance." Prepared for the Urban Development Unit of the World Bank.
Slack, Enid. 2006. “The Impact of Municipal Finance and Governance on Urban Sprawl.” A paper sponsored by the Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission.
Slack, Enid and Richard M. Bird. 2006. “Taxing Land and Property in Emerging Economies.”
Slack, Enid and Harry Kitchen. 2006. “Trends in Public Finance in Canada.”
Kitchen, Harry. 2006. “A State of Disrepair: How to Fix the Financing of Municipal Infrastructure in Canada.”
Slack, Enid. 2006. "Fiscal Imbalance: The Case for Cities." Prepared for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Toronto, June 6.
Slack, Enid. 2006. “What Can We Learn From Other Cities ,” Dialogues, Spring 2006, Canada West Foundation.
Slack, Enid and Richard Bird. 2006. “Cities in Canadian Federalism."
Slack,
Slack, Enid. 2005. "Easing the FIscal Restraints on Canadian Cities."
Slack, Enid. 2005. “Easing the Fiscal Restraints on Canadian Cities.” An article in Dialogues, Spring 2005, Canada West Foundation.
TD Economics. 2005. "New Fiscal Tools to Help Fund the City's Infrastructure Gap." Special Report.
De Klerck, Denis. 2005. “Growing Pains: Shifting Powers in the New Toronto.”
Slack, Enid. 2004. "Models of Government Structure at the Local Level," Working Paper 2004(4), Institute for Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's University, December.
Slack, Enid. 2004. "Revenue Sharing Options for Canada's Hub Cities." A report prepared for the Meeting of the Hub City Mayors, Toronto, September 17-18.
TD Economics. 2004. "Mind the Gap: Finding the Money to Upgrade Canada's Aging Public Infrastructure," Special Report.
Vander Ploeg, Casey. 2004. "Big Spenders: An Expenditure Profile of Western Canada's Big Six," Western Cities Project Report #31, Calgary: Canada West Foundation.
Vander Ploeg, Casey. 2004. "No Time to be Timid: Addressing Infrastructure Deficits in the Western Big Six," Western Cities Project Report #30, Calgary: Canada West Foundation.
Kitchen, Harry M. and Enid Slack. 2003. "Special Study: New Finance Options for Municipal Governments." Canadian Tax Journal, Volume 51, Number 6.
Slack, Enid. 2003. "Are Ontario Cities at a Competitive Disadvantage Compared to U.S. Cities? A Comparison of Responsibilities and Revenues in Selected Cities." A report prepared for the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity.
Slack, Enid, Larry Bourne and Meric Gertler. 2003. "Vibrant Cities and City-Regions: Responding to Emerging Challenges." A paper prepared for the Panel on the Role of Government, Toronto. (PDF)
TD Economics. 2003. "The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor: Take Action Now to Ensure Tiger's Roar Doesn't Fade," Special Report.
TD Economics. 2002. "A Choice Between Investing in Canada's Cities or Disinvesting in Canada's Future," Special Report.
TD Economics. 2002. "The Greater Toronto Area (GTA): Canada's Primary Economic Locomotive in Need of Repairs," Special Report.
Vander Ploeg, Casey. 2002. "Framing a Fiscal Fix-Up: Options for Strengthening the Finances of Western Canada's Big Cities," Calgary: Canada West Foundation.
Vander Ploeg, Casey. 2002. "Big City Revenue Sources: A Canada-U.S. Comparison of Municipal Tax Tools and Revenue Levers," Calgary: Canada West Foundation.