Municipalities in the province got good news recently, as the Municipal Revenue Sharing program will see $8.3 million flowing to municipalities in the 2015-16 budget year. The program, tied to one per cent of the PST, will see the biggest amount of revenue sharing since it has been implemented, with $265.3 million overall going to municipalities across the province.
Mayor Bob Maloney says he's happy to see the money flowing to the city. The municipal revenue sharing program is something tied to the provincial economy overall, and Maloney says that it's great to see municipalities benefit from the good times Saskatchewan is currently experiencing.
"I think the agreement we have with the province is the envy of any other group in the country."
The money will be spent on infrastructure improvements, and will allow the city to move up some projects that were planned for further in the future. It won't fund anything new, Maloney says, but will be used for ongoing multi-year projects such as the ongoing drainage improvement plan.
"Our want list is pretty long, like most cities, and there just isn't enough funds out there to get it all done, but it certainly will assist."
He also says it's a good indication of where the province is at overall, given the way that the revenue sharing program is implemented. If the economy takes a down turn it could see the cities in a pinch, he admits, but right now it's reflective of good things overall happening in the province.
"The PST, to me, is a very accurate reflection of what is going on in the provincial economy. I think when you see increases this large it really shows how vibrant our Saskatchewan economy is."
Maloney says that if there's one thing he would like to see in terms of funding, it would be seeing more federal support to smaller cities, in addition to the overall positive agreement with the province. He notes that cities with populations over 150,000 can get federal funding for more projects, which is something he says Yorkton can't benefit from, with many projects funded entirely through the municipality, putting a greater burden on the tax base.
