The news, which came Friday with the release of the Provincial-Municipal Fiscal and Service Delivery Review results, means $2.6 million in Ontario Works’ annual costs and $3.7 million in court security spending will be lifted from the Region’s and local taxpayers’ shoulders in a phased-in approach over the next decade.

At press time, Halton’s financial gurus had yet to calculate what the change would mean to the individual taxpayer.

The long-awaited announcement was welcomed by Regional Chairman Gary Carr, who has been calling on the Province for help through the Region’s Fairness for Halton campaign.

“I’m pleased that there’s a realization on the government’s part that they need to upload some services,” he said.

He noted since Ontario Works’ expenses tend to go up during tough economic times, it could be particularly beneficial that the Province is assuming those costs.

“At least it will prevent any large spikes from going onto the property tax base,” he said.

The Province plans to phase in the upload of Ontario Works’ costs between 2010 and 2018, starting with three per cent in 2010. This translates into a minor savings of $79,000 for the Region that year, said Halton Commissioner of Corporate Services and Treasurer Jane MacCaskill.

On the court security side, up to $125 mil- lion in province-wide expenses will be uploaded from 2012 to 2018. This would equate to about $500,000 for Halton in 2012, said MacCaskill.

While it was hoped that funds for social housing would come through with the review, they didn’t.

Pair that with the fact the federal government could make cutbacks to its housing funding, and Carr said he’s very concerned.

“Not only are we standing still on social housing, we’re going backwards, and the waiting lists for housing continue to grow,” he said.

If the Province isn’t able to help, Carr said the Region would be looking to the federal government to do something on the social housing front.

Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com .