One of the speakers at the SUMA 2016 conference. Photo courtesy Ryan Bater, Twitter.
“The next two years are going to be difficult,” La Ronge Mayor Thomas Sierzycki said at the annual Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association conference on Monday.
“We as municipalities will continue to do what we can to cut down on our costs as well as provide services to our residents,” he added.
Mayor Sierzycki and a few other northern leaders expressed their optimism despite the deficit.
“It is reassuring to hear that taxes will stay low and that municipal revenue sharing will remain at an adequate level,” said the northern mayor. “Municipal sharing has been very good to northern Saskatchewan.
Ile-a-la Crosse Mayor Duane Favel says he was glad to hear the province commit to maintaining water and sewage infrastructure.
“I know in northern Saskatchewan water and sewer has become a huge issue…so I was happy to learn that they are going to continue to support those programs.”
Favel does say the north still needs major funding in several areas and he and other municipalities will continue to push for funding.
He says there has been funding ‘shortfalls’ in the past, but he is optimistic this will change in the future.