| 11 | Adam Found, PHD, PLE | Dear Members,
I am pleased to accept nomination for the office of Vice-President of the Municipal Finance Officers Association (MFOA) for the 2023-2025 term. Since 2014 I have been Manager of Corporate Assets for the City of Kawartha Lakes where I oversee asset management, capital budgeting and development charges. In 2019 I was honoured to be elected by you to the MFOA Board of Directors. As Kawartha Lakes is a single-tier, central Ontario municipality with a population of 75,000 spread over 3,000 Km2, my service on the Board has represented the full spectrum of municipal services, the concerns of municipalities of various sizes and locations, and the diverse interests of urban and rural communities.
The cornerstone of my academic background is a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Toronto, for which my dissertation focused on property taxation and amalgamation. As a professional economist specialized in municipal finance, I offer the Board a rare blend of experience and expertise from the municipal and academic sectors. I continue to work in these sectors, mainly through Kawartha Lakes, Trent University and other organizations such as the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) at the University of Toronto. Recently, my academic work has focused on providing a robust economic rationalization for development charges (DCs), resulting in IMFG publications in 2019 and 2021. These two papers formalize the “growth should pay for growth” principle, dispel common DC myths, and provide a guideline for much-needed DC legislation reform.
Despite the pandemic, our Board has made significant accomplishments during my term as Director. Among these, I am most pleased with our successful effort to help convince the Province to reverse the ill-conceived DC reforms introduced by the 2019 More Homes, More Choice Act and related legislation. Following MFOA’s strong and persistent advocacy, the Province repealed the most problematic measures and introduced some positive changes (e.g. elimination of the arbitrary 10% deduction) during 2020-2021. Much work remains, however, to oppose unwise reforms proposed by the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force and to bring the DC Act into conformity with the “growth should pay for growth” principle.
My sense is that MFOA should strengthen its advocacy in two general directions over the next decade. One is the easing of municipal administrative burdens (e.g. duplicative or onerous reporting) imposed by the Province. This requires appropriate legislative reform respective of preserving municipal accountability. The other direction is a greater focus on municipal autonomy. Relief from provincial paternalism is essential for municipalities to evolve into the mature and self-directed governments they ought to be. This requires an unrelenting recognition that municipalities, at their core, are meant to provide local public services in accordance with local circumstances, and that municipalities know those circumstances best.
The vision I am offering to take to the Board on your behalf is an Ontario comprised of strong, vibrant, diverse, sustainable, independent, autonomous, mature and self-directed municipalities. If you share in that vision, then please consider supporting my candidacy for Vice-President. Warm regards.
Adam Found, PhD, PLE | adam.png | Dear Members, I am pleased to accept nomination for the office of Vice-President of the Municipal Finance Officers Association (MFOA) for the 2023-2025 term. Since |
| 12 | Shelley Stedall, Dipl.B.Adm. | Shelley Stedall, Director of Corporate Services /Treasurer with South Frontenac, (a progressive rural municipality of 20,000, north of Kingston) is a seasoned Municipal Treasurer with over 25 years in rural, small urban municipalities as well as experience as a Senior Municipal Financial Advisor with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH).
Shelley’s career in Municipal finance has been with Single Tiers and Lower Tiers including North Dumfries, Trent Hills, Asphodel Norwood, the City of Quinte West, and the Town of Smiths Falls. These work experiences have given her the opportunity to participate in the Eastern Ontario Treasurers group and in various area treasurer groups in each county and region. Shelley has also been a marker for the AMCTO MAP courses, has delivered seminars and training, including the MFOA/GFOA Budgeting workshop series, and updated the AMCTO MAP Units, which Dick Tindal originally wrote.
In addition to working as a Municipal Treasurer, Shelley worked for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) as a Senior Municipal Finance Advisor. In this role, she worked with Eastern Ontario Municipalities, Municipal Advisors from across the province, branches within MMAH as well as other Ministries which have an impact on municipal finance (MOI, MAF).
Shelley was on the MFOA board for years, but due to provincial restrictions was required to step down when working for the province. She would be honoured to be able to work on the MFOA board with the current board members and for the many members of MFOA in the post-pandemic world.
Shelley will represent all municipal finance staff in Ontario. While she has the experience and understanding of the small rural and urban with populations under 25,000, she has spoken with many Treasurers who work in various sized municipalities, in various locations, including the West, North, Central, and East. Her experience and communications with other municipal professionals and MAP3 students have helped her understand that the concerns going forward are the same. All municipalities in Ontario face challenges in our post-pandemic world related to inflation, supply chain issues, and major staff shifts. Affordable housing and pressures from the provincial to encourage housing development, and lower housing costs, including property taxes, will all be challenges that municipalities have to deal with for the next few years. A sound understanding of the effects of these changes on municipal budgeting will be important for municipal finance professionals and the MFOA is one of their greatest resources in being able to get through these challenges with the best outcomes.
Specifically, Shelley will work to promote:
- Networking and Training, both in person and virtually.
- Youth and New Municipal Finance professionals networking.
- Timely communication of municipal finance issues and ongoing activities of MFOA.
Shelley has always found that the many members of MFOA, including members of the board, and consultants with MFOA and MFOA staff have been a huge resource to her and if re-elected she will continue to be a resource for them. | shelley.png | Shelley Stedall, Director of Corporate Services /Treasurer with South Frontenac is a seasoned Municipal Treasurer working in rural, small urban municipalities and with the province. |