Make it rain

And regional review kick-off

ABOVE THE FOLD

BUDGET PRE-GAME — Stakeholders, they’re just like us — especially when it comes to feeling the pocketbook pinch.

Pre-budget consultations are in full swing at the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, a.k.a. SCOFEA, and advocacy groups are lining up to lay out what they want to see in the Ford government’s spring budget, which I hear is expected sometime in March.

Here are the latest budget asks — and some hints on which ones the government may be keen on.

BRIAN ROSBOROUGH, executive director of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario: Cities and towns are want in on new funding deals, a la Toronto — lest residents face steep(er) property tax hikes. “Current provincial-municipal fiscal arrangements undermine the social and economic prosperity of Ontario,” Rosborough told MPPs on the committee. “Municipal councils are concerned about how much more can be raised through property tax and user fee increases. That’s what is required in the face of the incr…