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Editorial - SUMA focus remains constant

Each year at this time of year the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) holds its annual convention.

Each year at this time of year the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) holds its annual convention.

While there are always a few unique issues which arise on a year-to-year basis, at the core of meetings for the last several years two issues have dominated.

The first is revenue sharing from the province.

For years the debate was simply to get to the point of a recognizable and understood formula for the transfers so that municipalities could do some reasonable financial budgets.

That process was not necessarily easy to achieve but credit the Saskatchewan Party with finally implementing a program where the transfers are tied to a portion, albeit a small portion, of the sales tax.

It is a reasonable program, but that said, there were suggestions the province might be poised to change things as the Brad Wall-led government faces tight budget numbers which are now expected to drive us back into a deficit.

Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney said he at least came away from SUMA with the good news the formula will stand.

“We got conformation from the Premier, as sombre a Premier as I’ve seen … the revenue sharing program will be protected,” he said.

That only makes sense. If the province is headed to red ink, it is wise to at least keep transfers secure through the difficult time as a way to buffer the impact on local municipalities which have fewer tools to control their budgets.

As it is, Maloney said the good news regarding transfers tempered likely deficits in 2016 and 2017, which could impact other grants and funds which have flowed to municipalities, said Maloney.

The Mayor was at least pragmatic in saying “why would we expect more money coming from the province.”

That might seem logical, but issues at the municipal level are not going away just because the economy is in a downturn and the province is struggling to balance their budget.

That is particularly true in terms of infrastructure needs, which are immense for municipalities.

And that is why infrastructure has been another reoccurring issue at SUMA for years.

The federal government has suggested $300 million will flow to Saskatchewan, but that will not mean a lot to a city such as Yorkton considering Saskatoon is already making calls that $70 million should go to them.

And there is no timing for the flow of money, or indication of what municipalities will need to do to apply for funds.

Yorkton had two applications made for funding under the former Conservative government which never did get released, and Maloney said he expects those applications “left with the old government.”

That means continued uncertainty regarding infrastructure funds coming out of yet another SUMA convention.