Municipal Reforms in Montreal and the Issue of Fairness.

Municipal governance in the Montreal metropolitan region has recently undergone several phases of transformation. The first, in 2001-2002, was characterized by amalgamation and the introduction of a metropolitan governance structure. This was followed, in 2006, by a round of de-amalgamation. Using annual municipal data on residential tax base and global tax rate covering the period from 1996 to 2011 for all municipalities of the metropolitan area, the impacts of these reforms on fairness are estimated. Our findings show that amalgamation raises equity among municipalities and that de-amalgamation partly reintroduced inequity in the metropolitan area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]