After all the insecurity and wondering, the revelation of the provincial budget means municipalities can breathe a sigh of relief as they will be receiving their cuts from the revenue sharing program.
“There was no change in the revenue sharing formula and all the communities are getting what was expected and planned under the program,” said Mayor Malcolm Eaton. “We’re certainly very pleased. The government has honoured their commitment and the partnership they had with the municipalities.”
Not only have they honoured their commitment, they’ve exceeded it. It seems nearly all – if not all – communities are getting significantly more than they received last year. Humboldt in particular will be getting just over $1.2 million, which is 176 per cent more than the city received last year. Other towns and villages are also up considerably. Muenster, for example, will be getting $96,596, which is more than the $36,762 they got last year. Quill Lake is getting 113 per cent more than their previous $43,973 and Wadena is getting $159,113 more this year as well. Overall, the province’s revenue sharing funding is up a total of 108 per cent.
And yet despite these lovely increased amounts, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. The downturn in the oil industry really took its toll on the provincial government, despite being up in other sectors. There were a number of areas that had reductions, including the conditional change to the graduate retention program. Graduates will no longer be getting checks in the mail as rebates for staying in the province. The only savings they’ll see will be on their tax brackets, which will vary depending on their income.
That’s not the only area that will be seeing a scaling back in tax incentives either. Parents who register their children in sports will only see those incentive if they earn less than $60,000 a year. About 6,000 seniors will also get booted off the Senior Drug Plan since the income threshold is being increased from $65,500 to $80,000.
Moreover – and this is the most concerning aspect for many Saskatchewan residents – the province said it will be borrowing $700 million on the capital markets to finance capital infrastructure projects such as highways, hospitals, schools, etc. Normally, the province only borrowed to refinance previous loans while Crown corporations borrowed for their own needs. This new direction, while carrying more potential for keeping pace infrastructure-wise, also carries much more risk depending on how the government handles the funds over the next decade or so. Considering how low interest rates have been, it seems at least that the Saskatchewan government made this decision at the right time. Plus, the good news is that there won’t be any tax increases for Saskatchewan residents.
“When I look at our operating debt, the debt that was there that we inherited when we formed government, we’ve paid off 40 per cent,” said Jim Reiter, Minister of Government Relations. “The funding will be exclusively targeted at capital infrastructure projects. I think we’ll be very prudent with this (loan) and I think our record speaks for itself.”
To build on this idea, Reiter mentioned that the total package of changes started with freezing MLA, senior officials’, and government officials’ salaries that aren’t unionized. Then the research and development tax credit was lowered from 15 to 10 per cent.
According to Reiter, depending on the estimates, the province is looking at anything from $0.5 to a $1 billion dollar loss in revenue from the oil industry. Even though the other sectors are up, it’s normal for commodities to fluctuate, so this deficit is a substantial loss.
“The inflation issues are always a loss at budget time and there are other spending issues,” said Reiter. “I think people recognize it’s a difficult time economically and we needed changes to have a balanced budget … We’ve had a chance to talk to people since then and the reaction overall has been very positive.”
Leaving aside these dark clouds, there are other parts of the budget that are of particularly optimistic interest for Humboldt and area. To start with, Highway 5 will finally be seeing more passing lanes thanks to a $6.8 million investment from the provincial government. It’s not quite the twinning that everyone had been hoping for, but it’s a good start.
There’s a portion of that highway that many know is dangerous because it’s narrow with ditches on both sides and nowhere to pull over. More than a handful of people died on that highway in the last year alone.
“It’s a dangerous piece. It’s narrow, the ditches are very deep, there are no shoulders, and there are many up and down hills,” said Eaton. “The provincial government will be putting in some passing lanes. It’s not a total fix, but we hope in the long term there will be a rebuild and they’ll put in proper shoulders. It’s a real safety hazard and with increasing traffic, it will become a very busy highway.”
As it stands, the government still has to do the planning for the passing lanes, which can take some time and will be the majority of what’s done this year. They’ll need to figure out how many sets of passing lanes will be needed and the precise location of each.
“Passing lanes are proven to be a good alternative to full twinning when you have increasing traffic,” said Doug Wakabayashi, assistant director for the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure. “It can reduce accidents by 25 per cent at 15 per cent of the cost of full twinning.”
According to Wakabayashi, although traffic volumes on that stretch are increasing, it’s not yet at a level where full twinning is warranted. That doesn’t mean, however, that it won’t be an option in the future. Wakabayashi says it’ll be monitored as part of a number of locations in their provincial system. This system analyses for safety improvements, capacity improvements, and traffic volume increases.
For now, those passing lanes will help disperse some of the traffic so there are no longer long queues of cars and more opportunities for passing. Depending on how the planning goes and how many passing lanes are determined is required, construction could take several years. During construction, motorists can still drive through, but will have to slow to 60 kilometres per hour.
Another part of the budget that affects Humboldt in particular is the additional funding provided for the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Authority (SAMA). This organization is responsible for the assessment of all commercial and residential properties, which is what the city’s taxation values are based on. The funding will provide new up-to-date technology for the organization and make their work more efficient, which will in turn enable faster turnaround times for the City.
“Giving additional funding to improve services and be more efficient is a really important piece for us because it modernizes their processes for us,” said Eaton. “It was just under $1 million, so it benefits communities across the province.”
Currently, the organization works with pen, paper, and an old data entry system. With new technology, they’ll be able to move into the 21st century with laptops and tablets.
The last happy outcome of this year’s revenue sharing amounts means that the City of Humboldt can continue with the 2015 projects as planned. This means that roads will continue undergoing repair and maintenance and water line projects will be going forward. Regarding the lagoon and water reservoir projects the City has planned for this year, they are still waiting to hear back from the Building Canada Fund regarding their grant application.
