Anyone expecting more provincial money to flow into communities this year pretty much had that hope dashed by Premier Brad Wall Monday.
The Saskatchewan premier made clear the slump in oil prices would be felt in revenues to the province in his annual address before the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention in Saskatoon.
The hit to oil and other revenue changes “will result in a loss of revenue to the government of Saskatchewan between $6(00)-to-$800 million,” said Wall.
“That’s between a five to seven per cent hit to the revenues of Saskatchewan.”
The premier said it was “not a devastating amount” compared to what was happening in Alberta, but “not an insignificant amount either.”
Wall said more money to municipalities was not likely in this year’s budget.
“We won’t have the money to give more. Some will have to get the same as last year. Some will get less than last year. That’s the context, by the way, when you hear me say or ministers say that everything has got to be on the table.”
But nothing concrete was said about any possible cut to the current revenue sharing to municipalities set at one per cent of the PST — a notion that had been floated before the convention.
The premier seemed supportive of the idea of keeping the deal currently in place.
Wall said he was “very mindful” that municipal budgets are set based on that formula. “We take that very seriously,” he added.
But no firm commitment was offered by the premier, either, to keep that formula.
“While everything is on the table, while the final decisions on the budget have not yet been made, president (Deb) Button and your mayors and councils and others, frankly, who are allies of this sector have made it very clear the importance of the deal that we have, and that consideration is foremost when we head into the very final stages of the budget.”
The premier told the audience at TCU Place the goal of the budget would be to “keep Saskatchewan strong.”
He pledged to keep taxes low, follow the principle of controlled spending, and also to invest in infrastructure. “Our bias will be towards building,” said Wall.
Wall also pledged support for the use of P3s in dealing with the infrastructure deficit, and said those will be featured prominently through SaskBuilds in the budget and in the plan for the government going forward.
