Ontario Premier Doug Ford said today, Thursday, that he does not believe that the loss of development charges involved in the housing bill passed by his government this week will harm municipalities.

Ford also said in a Toronto announcement when asked by reporters if he thought the bill harms municipal finances: "I don't think that's true at all. We will not back down on development charges."

Bill 23, passed this week, reduces municipal development charges for developers as a way to try to encourage them to build more rental and affordable housing. Tory said this step could be devastating to Toronto's finances, with the city estimating a revenue loss of about $200 million annually.

Clark also said on Wednesday that the province will begin auditing municipal reserve funds.

At a press conference yesterday, Tory said a false impression had been created that the city consumes all the money from the charges, adding: "I just think the audit will find that what we did was fair, wise, and reasonable."

Tory also stated that although the development charges collected by the city are not used immediately, they are put in reserve to pay for projects that the city knows it will need to implement.

Contrary to Ford's statements, Tory said the loss of development charges represents a threat to the city's finances, a threat they will fight if necessary.