Provincial Funding for Conventional Bus Transportation
Year: 2010
Resolution
Therefore be it resolved that the SUMA support the key recommendation of the City of Saskatoon to lobby the Government of Saskatchewan to provide PST exemption for capital purchases including the purchase of buses.
Provincial Response
The PST is a tax of general application that permits, in specific instances, exemption at source in order to achieve important social and economic objectives. These exemptions are limited to a relatively narrow list of items that focus on family essentials, as well as targeted economic sectors such as primary agricultural production and manufacturing and processing. The province prefers the approach of trying to keep a wider PST base in place in order that the rate itself can be kept lower. Provincial support to the municipal sector is provided through unconditional revenue sharing grants. In 2009-20, the Province committed $167.4 million for revenue sharing, of which $107.1 million was provided directly to urban municipalities.
