North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater has three items he hopes to see in Wednesday's provincial budget. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Tyler Marr

PROVINCIAL BUDGET

Bater outlines wish list for 2019 provincial budget

Mar 18, 2019 | 3:26 PM

Mayor Ryan Bater has a wish list in hand for the 2019 budget, which is set to be tabled by the provincial government Wednesday.

At the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention in February, Premier Scott Moe confirmed the Saskatchewan Party would fulfill its promise for a three-year path to balance.

While elected representatives have remained tight-lipped as to what could be on the provincial ledger, Moe teased that municipalities across the province will see $251 million dished out in revenue sharing this year. That is up $10 million from the amount that found its way into municipal coffers in 2018.

This is the only item on Bater’s list he is confident in checking off.

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The revenue sharing formula will be tweaked to represent three-quarters of one per cent of provincial sales tax from two years prior.

“Those are valuable resources for municipalities. It provides stable funding so we can plan accordingly,” he said. “This revenue sharing exists because the provincial government recognizes there are activities and programs and services that municipalities deliver that are of provincial interest.”

The mayor also wants to see more funding directed to the Urban Connector Program. He said most municipalities would agree the program has been underfunded ever since its inception about a decade ago.

While the city receives maintenance grants to repair service roads along Highway 16 and 4, larger projects require greater capital investment. On this front, Bater said the city has a variety of projects in mind, including the intersection of Territorial Drive and Highway 4 by the Don Ross Centre.

“There are sightline concerns and significant safety concerns especially now that CN has a transport year on Railway Ave. S,” Bater said. “There is a lot more traffic there and we have identified a need to do something with that intersection to regulate traffic in a more orderly way. We can’t do that without support from the province.”

When the federal government introduced cannabis legislation to lift the veil on prohibition in the fall of 2018, it included a provision about the sharing of taxation revenue from the province.

Bater said Ottawa was explicit in an expectation that the provinces would share cannabis tax revenue with municipalities, as they bear the frontline costs for policing and enforcement.

The mayor wants to see a model on how the province plans to do this Wednesday, but he is holding little hope, as talk on the topic has been mum.

“This provincial government hasn’t said they are not going to but they have released no details on their plan to share in the taxation of the sale of cannabis,” Bater said. “It may require more time for the province to fully understand how much tax revenue will be realized from the sale of cannabis because it is still really new.”

Monday afternoon, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer provided a bit of a tease on Wednesday’s budget showcasing the traditional budget shoes.

The minister selected little, black flats with a buckle on the front and a slight wedge heel to represent a move out away from red ink and a modest surplus.

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tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr