The organization representing rural municipalities in the province is calling on the government to keep its current revenue sharing model in place.
In a news release Tuesday, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) urged the province to retain its current PST funding model in the 2017-18 budget.
Municipal revenue sharing is currently set at a rate of one per cent of PST.
The release comes a week before Premier Brad Wall is scheduled to speak before the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention in Saskatoon, at which time he is expected to shed some light about the province’s budget plans for 2017.
In their news release, SARM pointed to expectations on RMs to maintain services for local ratepayers and industry under the pressure of rising costs. In particular, they pointed to the expenses RMs face to maintain and upgrade roads, with municipal revenue sharing being one of the streams used to offset the local costs.
SARM also pointed to municipal revenue sharing being a consistent funding source that RMs rely on.
“SARM recognizes that the current economic climate means this will be a tough budget year,” said SARM president Ray Orb in a statement.
“However, investment in rural Saskatchewan continues to be fundamental to the economic stability of our province.”
