Infrastructure and revenue sharing concerns were among the hot topics at this year's Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention in Saskatoon.
The convention saw around 1,000 delegates in attendance representing cities and towns throughout the province from Feb. 3 through 6 in Saskatoon.
Attending were city and town officials representing North Battleford and Battleford. Mayor Ian Hamilton, City Manager Jim Toye and almost all members of council were in attendance from North Battleford. Representing Battleford were Mayor Derek Mahon, town administrator Sheryl Ballendine and several councillors.
The composition of SUMA delegates represented a stark change from years past, as about one-third of them were brand new having been first elected in 2012.
That was evident from the delegations from North Battleford, which included three new councillors (Ryan Bater, Cathy Richardson and Greg Lightfoot), as well as from Battleford, which saw an almost complete change in its council ranks after the last election.
There was also a change in the leadership of SUMA following presidential elections on Monday.
Weyburn mayor Debra Button becomes the first woman to hold that position in the organization's history. She replaces longtime president Allan Earle of Dalmeny in the role.
But while there was new leadership at the top and many new delegates at the convention, there were few new announcements coming from the provincial government.
Premier Brad Wall did not have any new funding to announce to municipalities during his address Monday, instead focusing on Sask. Party government accomplishments and priorities.
He touted the current funding model already in place to municipalities, with revenue-sharing tied to one per cent of the PST.
The premier said municipalities would receive $264 million in revenue-sharing money this coming year - a more than 11 per cent increase year over year and "more than double that paid out in 2007," said Wall.
However, the issue of how that money will be distributed between the urban and rural municipalities is still to be determined.
The distribution formula is a point of contention between SUMA and the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities.
In his address, Wall noted Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Reiter "had asked SUMA and SARM to come together and hammer out a consensus, a compromise on changes to the distribution formula. It didn't happen. That's disappointing, but both groups had an opportunity to identify their positions."
When Reiter spoke to the convention a short time later, he told delegates the distribution formula issue will now be part of the budget process, and that a decision would come in the coming weeks.
He added, "with the dramatic increase in funding in the pool, there will be no losers. Everyone will benefit."
The province's position seemed to satisfy Saskatoon's mayor Don Atchison.
"I don't think this is the place that you talk about funding formulas in the sense that SARM is not here. I think you need to have both groups there," said Atchison to reporters.
He said making that announcement later was "the appropriate time." Atchison added "no one should take less funding today than they took yesterday on the funds already in place, and for me that's exceedingly important."
Another major issue for delegates at the convention was the cost of infrastructure and the need for upper levels of government to help municipalities address those issues.
Much of the talk revolved around the need for the federal government to step up with a new cost-sharing funding model to replace the current Building Canada fund that is to wrap up by 2014.
Reiter told delegates he was optimistic in his talks with federal minister Steven Fletcher, and in comments made by Transport and Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel, that the federal government would "be moving forward with a long-term infrastructure program for 2014. And I am hopeful, very hopeful, that we will hear more from the federal government in this matter in the very near future."
