“The revenue sharing program will be protected.”
— Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney
Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney said there was some good news out of the recent Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association annual convention.
“We got conformation from the Premier, as sombre a Premier as I’ve seen … the revenue sharing program will be protected,” he said.
But that good news was tempered by the Premier talking provincial deficits in 2016 and 2017.
And that may impact the City, since deficits by the province could impact other grants and funds which have flowed to municipalities, said Maloney. He added if the province is in a deficit “why would we expect more money coming from the province.”
A tight situation provincially may not be the worst thing either, said Maloney, who said
That does not mean there won’t be some increases coming to taxpayers, said Maloney, who said there are hints of an increase on the education portion of property taxes.
The flow of money was not the only issue of note at the SUMA meeting.
Maloney said SUMA representatives chose to pass “a resolution supporting the government in getting the Energy East pipeline completed.”
Maloney note “pipelines are the safest, most effective way to move oil.”
There were delegates who questioned whether SUMA should take a stand, but Maloney said, “I think it was a good thing it was passed.”
Maloney reasoned the pipeline is expected to generate $2-to-$3 per barrel, which would mean about $300 million annually to Saskatchewan.
“That’s all the infrastructure needs for your small cities,” he said.
And infrastructure needs remain an issue for SUMA.
The federal government has suggested $300 million will flow to Saskatchewan, but that will not mean a lot to a city such as Yorkton considering Saskatoon is already making calls that $70 million should go to them.
And there is no timing for the flow of money, or indication of what municipalities will need to do to apply for funds.
Yorkton had two applications made for funding under the former Conservative government which never did get released, and Maloney said he expects those applications “left with the old government.”
Another area drawing a lot of interest at the convention was the expansion of Conflict of Interest provisions for all urban elected officials.
While elected official in cities have had to sign disclosure documents, that will expand to all urban Councillors, and will include informing the clerk as to exactly what the conflict is. Maloney said it is a process to prevent those in conflict influencing decisions outside of Council Chambers.
“There was a good deal of controversy about it,” said Maloney, who said some small community Councillor voiced concerns it would be onerous in terms of business.
But Maloney sees the broadening of the requirement as a good thing.
“We’ve had these rules for a while and it’s important,” he said.
