Municipal Fiscal Stability

New Brunswick’s municipal restructuring of 2023 was a significant shift, and UMNB has been collaborating with expert researchers to support our advocacy on the need for an adequate, predictable, and diversified fiscal framework to support local governments.

Municipalities currently rely on revenue generated as a result of property assessment valuations for approximately 85% of their annual budgets. Local Governments are also facing significant infrastructure deficits estimated to total at least $2.5 billion in 2024, with upgrades needed due to the age of public assets and the increasing impacts of climate change.

UMNB continues to advocate for the creation of a long-term revenue sharing agreement to transfer 1 point of 10 provincial points of the HST to Local Governments, which would boost the provincial GDP by $218m, support over 2,000 full time equivalent jobs, and result in an 18% increase in the GDP of the municipal sector.