ESTERHAZY — The next step in whether or not the Village of Yarbo should restructure and become part of the Town of Esterhazy will happen this Tuesday night with a public meeting.
Starting at 7 p.m. at the SN Boreen Centre in Esterhazy, members of both municipal councils will be in attendance, as well as representation from provincial Government Relations.
“There will be two representatives from Government Relations in attendance,” confirmed Esterhazy CAO Tammy MacDonald. “There are going to be questions we don’t know how to answer because we’ve never done this before.”
Last fall, a similar meeting took place when the Village of Yarbo was planning to restructure into the RM of Langenburg, which lasted approximately 40 minutes and yielded a small number of public in attendance. Plans were that Yarbo would dissolve into the RM on Jan. 1, 2025, but a last-minute reversal in that decision left the village of 48 in limbo.
Both councils of Esterhazy and Yarbo have met about the prospective change before the public meeting on July 15. Depending on the outcome of Tuesday night’s meeting, the next step will be to approach the provincial government with a decision.
Initially, plans were to have a town hall session as an update on various activities happening in Esterhazy before the Yarbo discussion. However, with conflicting schedules and many people out of town for summer holidays, shifting the town hall portion to a later date made more sense.
“We want to do it all, and we want to do it well,” MacDonald said, recalling how the last such meeting drew several speakers with solid updates for residents. “I think putting it off until September makes sense. We’re rolling back into school, back into fall and will maybe have a better understanding where we are with the water treatment plant and the water meters.”
Future funding
One question likely to arise at the meeting will be around Communities in Transition funding. When a village dissolves into an RM, the CIT program provides financial assistance to that municipality, assuming financial liabilities such as physical infrastructure. This CIT funding can remain for up to 10 years after the point of dissolution.
“The CIT program does not consider urban municipalities restructuring together, but it is currently being reviewed, including expanded eligibility, and Government Relations is working with Esterhazy and Yarbo through this transition as a unique occurrence,” said the Ministry of Government Relations. “Other mechanisms are available to mitigate expenses related to municipalities that are voluntarily restructuring, like the application of additional levy amounts imposed at the time of restructuring and ongoing tax rates.”
The action of a village dissolving into a nearby town is unprecedented in Saskatchewan, so whether or not the CIT program can be applied in this situation is currently unknown.
“Saskatchewan has not had an instance of two urban municipalities amalgamating under The Municipalities Act, but there is a previous instance of municipalities seeking solutions to best serve them,” the Ministry noted. “In 2004, three resort villages that shared a common boundary restructured under The Urban Municipalities Act, 1984, to form one resort village.”
The communities involved in that amalgamation were the Resort Villages of Katepwa Beach, Katepwa South, and Sandy Beach, which went on to form the Resort Village of the District of Katepwa on July 24, 2004.
The Town of Esterhazy may also be privy to the annual Potash Tax Share allocation Yarbo had been receiving. Back in March, Yarbo’s potash tax share distribution was $10,481.05, but a note on the calculation information stated effective April 1, 2025, the distribution would go to the RM of Langenburg for this year, the following one, and 2027.
“The Government of Saskatchewan supports municipalities wishing to partner with neighbouring communities to voluntarily restructure, which will lead to more vibrant and sustainable communities,” said the Ministry of Government Relations. “The Ministry of Government Relations commends the leadership of the Town of Esterhazy in supporting the Village of Yarbo through the restructuring process and our officials are providing support to both the village and town through this change.”
