A Roadmap to Municipal Reform

In addition to Benjamin Dachis himself, I thank the many other people who contributed to this book – the scholars who have worked in the field, the many experts who reviewed earlier drafts of this manuscript, and the C. D. Howe Institute’s editing and pro- duction team. [...] Although the views expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Institute’s staff, members Foreword vii or board of directors, we publish this book with confidence that it will be of interest, and of practical use, to elected officials and other decision-makers, and to everyone interested in improving the contri- bution of Canada’s local governments to Canadians’ qualit [...] It rests in large part on the work the C. D. Howe Institute has published in the last ten years, work I have updated and complemented here to give a full picture of the issues that affect the residents of Canadian cities and which fall under the purview of municipal governments. [...] This approach may lead to a different diagnosis of the same problems and to different prescriptions of the best way 8 A Roadmap to Municipal Reform: Improving Life in Canadian Cities to fix them. [...] The accrual method highlights the intergenerational inequity – the surpluses of $70 in year 1 and $20 in year 5, and the deficits in years 2 through 4 – created by cash accounting that relies on taxpayers in year 1 to finance infrastructure, and taxpayers in year 5 to finance pensions and health benefits.