About the Muskoka Ratepayers

The Muskoka Ratepayers is an advocacy group whose objective is to ensure that the Township receives responsible governance from those that were elected to represent us in the Township of Muskoka Lakes.

The Goals of the Muskoka Ratepayers

• To protect and promote the interests of all property owners within the Township of Muskoka Lakes
• To encourage orderly development of the Township in such a manner as to preserve and enhance the value of residential, commercial and industrial properties
• To support the education of our young people

The Objectives of the Muskoka Ratepayers

• Attend Township Council meetings to gather, first hand, information of interest to our members
• Be accessible to the members of the Association through any Director on the Board
• Hold public forums on issues of major concern to the membership
• Support our school students through annual bursaries
• Stay in contact with other associations with regards to our mutual interests
• Have our Board and its committees review issues affecting all Ratepayers in the Township.  Bring any concerns to the attention of Council, and meet with members of Council to resolve relevant concerns that our members may have.

The Muskoka Ratepayers and Governance

The following are principles and policies that the Muskoka Ratepayers' Association has adopted. If you are of like mind, you should consider joining us, To do so, please click on -  Join Us

• General Principles - Our mandate is:
  • To represent all Township property owners, both seasonal and permanent, in an attempt to ensure that their tax loads are fairly and reasonably conceived
  • To encourage governmental initiatives to develop a welcoming and thriving community
  • To encourage our government to implement plans and budget initiatives which focus on efficiency, productivity, and development while initiating short and long term strategies that are in the best interests of the community
• Operations:
  • To have MRA personnel sit and act as a watchdog at all Township Council and many committee meetings,reporting relevant information and decisions to our membership
  • We do not intercede with the Township to resolve our members conflicts or problems of a personal nature
• Policy:
  • To avoid any potential conflicts of interest, our Directors are required to recuse themselves from meetings or discussions which are directly related to the area of conflict
  • Resignations are required from any MRA Board Member or Officer before they file for political candidacy
• Elections:
  • We are not political activists
  • We hold all candidates meetings at election time, but do not endorse candidates or make recommendations
  • We summarize what each candidate has said at the meeting and make the information available to all members and the community at large