Editing Common Sense Revolution (section)

==Legacy==
Municipal amalgamation led to a reduction in the number of [[List of municipalities in Ontario|municipalities in Ontario]] from 850 to 443 and the number of elected municipal officials by 23%, but resulted in an increase in the number of municipal employees by 39% from 1996 to 2011.<ref name="gillis">{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/01/13/amalgamation_brought_fewer_ontario_cities_but_more_city_workers_report_finds.html|title=Amalgamation brought fewer Ontario cities, but more city workers, report finds|last=Gillis|first=Wendy|newspaper=[[Toronto Star]]|date=13 January 2014|access-date=24 October 2014}}</ref> Per thousand residents, there were 15.8 municipal employees in 1990 and 20.9 in 2010.<ref name="gillis" /> Part of this resulted from an increase in services by the larger municipalities, or replacement of volunteer staff with full-time staff such as for firefighting services.<ref name="gillis" /> Other contributing factors were the downloading of services from provincial jurisdiction to municipalities, such as [[social assistance]], [[public housing]] and [[public health]].<ref name="gillis" /> The remaining increase resulted from  wage increases associated with amalgamation and an increase in administrative employment, such as hiring more clerks and treasurers.<ref name="gillis" /> Amalgamated municipalities increased employees at twice the rate of those that were not restructured.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://globalnews.ca/news/1080152/ontario-municipalities-spending-more-since-amalgamation-report/|title=Ontario municipalities spending more since amalgamation: report|date=13 January 2014|publisher=Global News|access-date=24 October 2014}}</ref><!-- note: research paper "Did the Common sense Revolution Reduce the Size of Municipal Government in Ontario?" states restructured municipalities increased employment by 3.25 employees/1000 residents from 1996, whereas those not amalgamated increased by 1.77 employees/1000 residents; other findings: amalgamation has "almost universally" not resulted in cost savings, but rural municipalities may have benefited -->