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The City of Hamilton has been battling the province for years, over how much money the city pays for social services. Councillors say the province’s numbers are wrong, and that the city is getting short changed by millions of dollars. Today a long awaited, third party report released its findings into the dispute. As Donna Skelly reports, it appears the city was right all along.

In 2008, the province uploaded or absorbed the cost of providing social services to Ontarians. Programs like Ontario Works, Ontario Disability, Ontario Drug Benefits and court security. The province claimed to give the city of Hamilton about 78 million dollars each year to cover those costs. But city staff say that number is off – way off. They believed it was closer to 12 million dollars a year.

Today, an independent firm backed the city’s claim. A two year study by KPMG, showed the province hasn’t been giving the city 78 million a year but rather 14 million a year – a difference of 64 million dollars.

Councillor Sam Merulla says taxpayers are being lied to. And he says the City of Hamilton can’t continue to pay for services the province has promised to upload.

“We are the only jurisdiction in the western hemisphere that actually has social assistance and housing on the backs of the municipal taxpayer. That’s a disgrace.”

Merulla says the city must continue to lobby the province to absorb more social service costs. He says that will require ongoing discussion and a concerted effort by council to keep the issue on the radar.