After the challenges of last year’s release of the provincial budget, 2018-2019 is looking more stable for the City of Humboldt after the provincial budget release on April 10.
City Manager Joe Day says they will not have to re-examine the decisions made when they released their budget on Jan. 29 with provincial decisions weighing favourably for the city.
Municipal spending, including those linked to SaskEnergy surcharge revenue that was previously cut by the Saskatchewan government, is going to bring in $120,000 of additional revenue, says Day.
This does not fully make up for previous cuts when the city lost $460,000-480,000 in SaskPower surcharge revenue.
“Compared to where we were at the beginning of 2018, we’re better off. Compared to 2016 we’re still about $320,000 below what we were in 2016.”
Day was also pleased that the Saskatchewan government made specific note of continued work on Hwy 5 with budget documents noting, “$691 million in capital funding for transportation infrastructure,” and specific mention of Hwy. 5 from Hwy. 2 to Saskatoon.
“We are very pleased with the news that the Province will continue to find ways to improve the safety of Highway 5 between Saskatoon and Humboldt. It’s very narrow, there’s a lack of a shoulder and we’ve had concerns from emergency personnel if there’s ever a vehicle that needs to pull over,” said Day in an April 18 press release.
The 2018-2019 budget also noted a $13.6 million increase of funding for the RCMP, as well as a $4.9 million increase to the Rural Crime Strategy.
