Hastings County is fighting a legal ruling that often makes municipalities partially liable in some court cases, for instance, for vehicle accidents on their roadways.
Warden Rick Phillips has written to Attorney General Doug Downey calling on the provincial government to eliminate the rules whereby municipalities face a joint liability system that places accountability on them.
He says it makes municipalities and property taxpayers “an easy target for litigation.”
It not only includes court costs, but also a hike in insurance costs.
Phillips tells Quinte News when there is an accident on a municipal road the driver might claim the road wasn’t plowed.
“So most of us have had to put GPSs on our trucks so we can say well as a matter of fact the road was plowed 15 minutes ago.”
Phillips adds, “You’re minding your own business and the next thing you know you get a letter in the mail. You’re named as a whatever in this claim, and you scratch your head and say well we had nothing to do with it.”
“But then it goes to court and it’s found that you are one percent, or two percent or five percent, for whatever reason it is, and bang, your premiums go way up.”
In his letter Phillips says, “Hastings County continues to advocate for a solution to the liability system that places disproportionate accountability on municipalities. The outcome is higher insurance premiums, increased settlements, and potentially reduced services.”
He is also asking that prejudgement interest costs be eliminated.
Phillips says he raised the issue five years ago, and intends to raise it at this year’s meeting of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
