SUMA reviews revenue sharing

REGINA — The new chair of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association’s city mayors’ caucus is calling for changes to the revenue-sharing formula and more infrastructure funding in the 2013-14 provincial budget.

“We have needs in our communities to re-address infrastructure to renovate (and) rehabilitate old infrastructure — much of which has exceeded its useful life — and we also have needs for growing communities,” said Malcolm Eaton, mayor of Humboldt who was elected chair of the city mayors’ caucus on Wednesday at the end of a two-day meeting in Regina.

The meeting gave newly elected city mayors in the Oct. 24 elections an opportunity to become more familiar with the issues and challenges facing growing municipalities. But it also gave the caucus an opportunity to meet with provincial cabinet ministers on Tuesday night for about 90 minutes to discuss SUMA’s growth agenda in light of those issues

“THE CITIES ARE A BIG PART OF THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY OF THIS PROVINCE.”

MALCOLM EATON

and challenges, Eaton said, adding Premier Brad Wall didn’t attend the meeting.

“The cities are a big part of the economic activity of this province. We have a significant portion of the population living in urban centres,” Eaton said.

SUMA is reviewing the revenue distribution among the province, federal government and municipalities, Eaton said. In the 2012-13 provincial budget, municipalities received $237.4 million in revenue sharing from provincial sales tax revenue — a 9.5 per cent increase from the previous year. Cities received $151.9 million, rural communities $68.8 million and northern communities $16.6 million.

But SUMA wants to see a rebalance of revenue sharing given that cities receive 46 per cent of provincial sales tax revenue but make up 60 per cent of Saskatchewan’s population. “I think we’d like to see a resolution of this early in the new year,” Eaton said.

Last month, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities released a list of recommendations for a new funding arrangement with municipalities, including $5.75 billion annually from the federal government once the seven-year, $33-billion Building Canada plan expires in 2014.

Eaton said SUMA is looking for new and additional funding for infrastructure programs in the 2013-14 provincial budget, but wouldn’t disclose a specific amount being sought. In the 201213 budget, $59.9 million was set aside specifically for infrastructure programs.

“The infrastructure issues continue and we’re working hard with the provincial government as well as the federal government to develop a program that provides us with the kind of sustainable, predictable, long-term plan that allows us to plan and bring forward the kinds of improvements in infrastructure that our citizens need and want,” Eaton said.