By Tyler Marr

Under the Dome

Balanced budget to come March 20, revenue sharing up $10M: Moe

Feb 4, 2019 | 12:31 PM

Cities, towns and villages across the province will see $251 million dished out in revenue sharing this year, up $10 million from the amount that found its way into municipal coffers in 2018.

Premier Scott Moe announced the funding formula for municipal revenue sharing is being tweaked to represent three-quarters of one per cent of the provincial sales taxes from two years prior to the current year.

He made the news public during a speech at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) annual convention in Saskatoon Monday morning.

A stable, predictable funding model has long been sought by local lawmakers, SUMA, and its rural counterpart SARM, ever since the widely unpopular 2017-18 provincial budget.

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That year, North Battleford lawmakers voted to examine their legal options as a last resort after hearing of the cuts, which nixed over $2 million from municipal coffers.

The funding bump is the first increase to the payout in three years.

“Municipalities across Saskatchewan will continue to have a consistent source of unconditional provincial revenue to invest in their local priorities,” Moe said in a statement Monday.

“The adjusted revenue sharing formula recognizes our current fiscal reality, evolves this key provincial program, and retains the fundamental qualities of predictability, sustainability and transparency.”

In a press release, the provincial government said $1.5 million from the pool will be “co-managed with municipal partners to invest in initiatives that support good governance, capacity building and regional planning.”

Moe also said the province will table a “tight” but balanced budget on March 20.

SUMA President Gordon Barnhart said in a statement the organization is “pleased” with the news and the funding “will be a benefit to all of our members.”

—

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr