Municipal Revenue-Sharing Withdrawal Unfair: Mayor

Municipal Revenue-Sharing Withdrawal Unfair: Mayor

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 at 12:03

The chair of the New North municipalities group says he’s troubled by provincial Finance minister Rod Gantefoer’s warning that he may backtrack on a promised funding commitment to municipalities.

Gantefoer admitted yesterday that because of a dramatic decline in potash revenue, the province’s finances are in such rough shape that he doesn’t think the government can afford a big boost in municipal operating grants.

But Bobby Woods, who is also mayor of Buffalo Narrows, says that under a recently-negotiated funding formula, the province is supposed to give municipalities a fifth of its provincial sales tax revenue — and its ability to sell potash should have no bearing on that.

“People pay the PST every day, with every item they buy, so it shouldn’t impact it, and I hope that they’re not looking at replenishing their bank on the PST for what they’re losing in the potash industry,” Woods says.

Woods questions why municipalities are so often amongst the first hit when the province’s finances are in trouble — especially in the north, a region the government relies on heavily for resource revenue.