Resolutions

Therefore be it resolved that SUMA urge the Province to consider additional capital infrastructure funding to the municipalities in the amount of $100 per capita per year on a cumulative basis for the next four years with a review at the end of that term.

Response: • Infrastructure, both provincial and municipal, is a priority for this government,as it is for municipalities, and we will be addressing infrastructure funding through a variety of means. • Currently, the province is negotiating a framework agreement with the federal government on the Building Canada Plan, which ties into negotiations for the Building Canada Fund (BCF) communities component. • Over the next seven years, we expect Saskatchewan will receive $236 million in federal funding under the BCF and $175 million in provincial/territorial base funding for municipal and transportation-related infrastructure. The province has agreed to cost share the communities component of the Building Canada Fund, and to improve collaboration on infrastructure planning and priorities between all three levels of government • The 2008 federal budget announced that the Gas Tax Program will be extended at $2 billion per year beyond 2013-14 and will become a permanent program. The program will provide Saskatchewan municipalities with $313 million over the next six years, leading up to 2013-14. • The Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF) money, although fully allocated, will continue to flow to communities over the next several years. To date, municipalities have claimed 41 per cent of the $91 million under the MRIF program, and there is still other funding that municipalities have not yet Accessed. • The Saskatchewan Infrastructure Growth Initiative (SIGI) will provide $300 million of interest-free five-year loans to municipalities. This is infrastructure funding that is targeted at growth related to residential, commercial, and industrial lot development • Northern infrastructure funding also exists through the Northern Capital Grants Program. • Further decisions on provincial funding for municipal infrastructure will be made as part of the budget development process, taking into account the needs of all sectors in the province.