There was little in the way of good news in terms of municipal funding coming out of the recent Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) convention, at least in the short term.
Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney said it was pretty clear when listening to new Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Warren Kaeding Minister of Government Relations that the province is still facing a tight budget.
鈥淭here hasn鈥檛 been the turnaround in oil and potash they were hoping for,鈥� said Maloney after returning from the 113th Annual Convention held Feb. 4 to 7, and event which attracted nearly 1,000 representatives from Saskatchewan鈥檚 cities, towns, villages, and northern municipalities to Regina.
Without a rebound in natural resource revenues, Maloney said there was no indication municipalities will see any increases for 2018.
In fact Premier Moe used the term 鈥渢ight budget鈥� when mentioning the upcoming 2018 provincial budget in a speech at the SUMA convention.
But the province was suggesting they were closer to returning to a balanced budget at their level.
Maloney said the province wants to be back to a funding balance in two years.
And as the province returns to a balanced budget Premier Moe did indicate a willingness to negotiate future municipal finding.
Moe suggested he is ready to re-examine some of the province鈥檚 grant programs, said Maloney.
The seeming willingness to talk shown by Moe and Kaeding was a big positive coming out of the convention, said Maloney.
The Yorkton Mayor termed it 鈥減owerful鈥� to have the expectation of greater access to negotiation of municipal funding with the province moving forward.
The question for Maloney is what a re-examination might mean. For example there were indications the grants-in-lieu (GIL) could be renegotiated with a look to spreading the dollars over all municipalities. That is not something Maloney sees as being a path the government should even be considering.
Maloney said the government seems to 鈥渓ook at GILs as a mystery鈥� in terms of funding, and they are not difficult to understand if one looks back at why they were initially established.
鈥淭hey should be called franchise fees,鈥� said Maloney, explaining the GILs were an annual payment to communities which gave up producing electricity locally in favour of becoming part of the SaskPower grid.
鈥淚t was a business deal,鈥� he said.
Maloney noted Swift Current never made that deal and today generates significant revenues, around $4 million annually, producing power locally.
Maloney said the idea of making the GILs more inclusive for all municipalities runs counter to the original deals. He added not every funding arrangement between the province and municipalities is equally applied, nor should it be necessarily. Maloney noted Hudson Bay receives more dollars for its airport because it is a staging site for forest fire suppression, and Prince Albert receives more provincially-funded police.
That said Maloney said he would welcome more negotiation which could lead to a more defined, and dependable level of funding to municipalities; the key being a level of dollars municipalities can rely on.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to be the accordion whenever the government needs money,鈥� he said.
Councillors also discussed grants-in-lieu, revenue sharing, infrastructure spending, motor collisions, and police funding.
鈥淲e did hear a committment from the SGI Minister (Joe Hargrave) that he wants to get [the motor collision rate in Yorkton] fixed,鈥� said Councillor Randy Goulden.
Yorkton Coun. Aaron Kienle said he didn鈥檛 hear a lot of solutions for the problems facing Yorkton.
鈥淚鈥檓 worried about funding from the province and how that will impact our community,鈥� he said.
Participants also attended speeches, sessions, and booths which covered policing, fire departments, playground equipment, and much more.
鈥淸It was] very educational,鈥� said Kienle. 鈥淎lmost overwhelming.鈥�
鈥淲e had a terrific turnout,鈥� said Mayor Bob Maloney. 鈥淭he educational sessions went very well.
鈥淥n that basis, it was certainly a solid SUMA [convention].鈥澛�
