The City of Yorkton and other municipalities received some good news Monday.
In his annual speech to the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) Premier Scott Moe announced Saskatchewan municipalities will receive record revenue sharing. 听
Overall funding under the municipal revenue sharing program will increase to a record of $278 million next fiscal year 鈥� a total increase of $27 million in 2020-21. The amount represents a nearly 11 per cent increase in 2020-21 from the current fiscal year, and is almost a 119 per cent increase from the 2007-08 fiscal year.
鈥淭his massive investment will position municipalities across Saskatchewan for the new decade of growth and to continue making key investments in their communities,鈥� said Premier Moe in a release. 鈥淢unicipal revenue sharing has provided municipalities a stable and predictable source of provincial revenue, and I am proud to continue our commitment to supporting key local priorities that help lay the foundation for a growing Saskatchewan.鈥�
Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney told Yorkton This Week that the additional money should mean about an extra $250,000 to the city.
鈥淏y-in-large it鈥檚 good news for the city ... It鈥檚 not going to fix all our ills, but it helps,鈥� he said.
Maloney noted the 11 per cent increase, while the largest year-over-year increase in municipal funding, it is because the Saskatchewan economy was good two years ago,
鈥淚t鈥檚 reflective of what the economy did two years ago,鈥� he said, adding that considering the economy has tightened the funding level may not be maintained in the next year, or two.
鈥淣ext year could be a bit of a different story,鈥� he said.
But, for today the increase showed Saskatchewan had a good year, and there are indications things are strengthening, said Maloney, pointing to the Premier鈥檚 suggestion of a balanced provincial budget in 2020, a plan to see the population increase to 1.4 million by 2030, and exports being up 60 per cent over 2007.
Municipal Revenue Sharing Background:
The Government of Saskatchewan鈥檚 municipal revenue sharing program is based on three quarters of one point of the provincial sales tax (PST) revenue collected from the fiscal year two years prior to the current year. As introduced last year, $1.5 million from the total municipal revenue sharing program will also be invested in the Targeted Sector Support Initiative for municipalities. The initiative is co-managed with municipal partners to support innovative ideas from municipalities that advance priority areas, such as good governance, regional planning, and inter-community collaboration. With this announcement, Saskatchewan municipalities have overall been allocated more than $3.1 billion in provincial funding through the revenue sharing program from 2007-08 to 2020-21.
More details will be available when the provincial budget is released.
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