Why would municipal leaders trust Ford?

Who could blame local politicians for being just a little leery when the province offers to show them how to save four cents on every dollar they spend?

That’s the plan, proposed this week by the government at Queen’s Park: It is ready to cough up $7.35 million to help the province’s large urban municipalities and school boards find savings.

Premier Doug Ford said the money would allow them to hire independent experts to conduct line-by-line audits of their spending.

“We campaigned on finding four cents for every provincial dollar spent and we are asking our partners to do the same,” Ford said.

The big hole in that plan is this: The province has already started cutting its own spending — in a huge way, often by dumping programs on municipalities or reducing its share of their funding.

It’s cutting so deep and in vital areas that municipal governments are going to have to make some of it up themselves.

For example, Niagara’s public health department had its funding cut in thet provincial budget. The department has turned to Niagara Region to make up the $375,000 shortfall to see it through to the end of the year.

“It’s like a daily download and it’s getting exhausting,” St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik complained earlier this spring.

The Large Urban Mayors Caucus of Ontario, of which Sendzik is a member, called it “downloading by stealth.” In a letter to Ford last month, the caucus said spending cuts or program changes affecting a wide swath of areas from tourism to flood management and child care “is effectively forcing municipalities to consider tax increases or service cuts to absorb the download in services.”

Ford’s cuts have been deep and quick, made in some cases seemingly unaware of the consequences. Try doing that at the local level.

MPPs can be sheltered from their hometown voters at Queen’s Park, and in their ridings be selective about who they meet and where.

That’s a luxury local politicians don’t have, as anyone who has ever attended a town or city council meeting knows. Every meeting they are face-to-face with their electors, as they are in the community.

And generally, municipalities and school boards already run tight ships. Most, too, already conduct their own line-by-line audits, as Niagara Region already did this year.

And what is the point of cutting now anyway if, like in Niagara, they are being studied to possibly be merged or amalgamated.

Niagara has 13 governments now — 12 local and one regional. By the time the dust settles, it could one, 13 (you never know) or any number in between.

Their 2019 budgets are set and tax bills are prepared. Some of them might not even exist by this time next year.

Why would they audit now? Why would they trust a provincially-chosen auditor to give them a fair shake? Especially when the government’s actions to date have been carried out in such a high-handed fashion and with little to no consultation.

Accepting this offer would just play into the Ford government’s hands and help validate its actions.

And why would municipalities and school boards see this as anything more than another kick in the teeth?

It all sounds so good. Every politician loves to say he or she can find waste and duplication in the budget.

We’ve said it before — cutting the cost of government is good, if it doesn’t hurt its ability to do the job governments are supposed to do.

Ford’s cuts have come so quickly and are spread so widely, there’s no telling what government services will look like when he’s done.

We can’t tell and, honestly, neither can he.