Only Liberals take the bait

Call for more cash doesn't get AMM far

By: Aldo Santin Posted: 4:48 PM CDT Friday, Apr. 1, 2016 Last Modified: 5:56 PM CDT Friday, Apr. 1, 2016 | Updates

Manitoba’s municipal leaders are waiting to hear whether they’re going to what they want from this election campaign.

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Manitoba’s municipal leaders are waiting to hear whether they’re going to what they want from this election campaign.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/04/2016 (3485 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s municipal leaders are waiting to hear whether they’re going to what they want from this election campaign.

Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen, the president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, acknowledged the province provides annual funding that’s equal to one percentage point of the PST — $300 million — for all municipal programs and grants.

But they want more.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said the Fair Share, Fair Say campaign deliberately wasn't proscriptive. — MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said the Fair Share, Fair Say campaign deliberately wasn't proscriptive.

The AMM says municipalities are responsible for 60 per cent of public infrastructure — roads and bridges — but only collect eight cents out of every tax dollar to maintain that work.

“We’re saying what we have right now is a good start, but what we really need is an additional one per cent of the PST, specifically aligned for infrastructure,” Goertzen said.

The leaders of the organization went to Winnipeg city hall in late February and launched their Fair Share, Fair Say campaign, calling on voters to pressure the main political parties to agree to give municipalities new growth revenue.

The municipalities want a bigger share of the PST revenue and the freedom to spend that money as they see fit.

So far, only the Liberals have agreed to give the AMM what they want.

Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari said if her party is elected, it would maintain funding and add one percentage point in PST.

Bokhari said while the province has been giving the City of Winnipeg $50 million annually for regional and local street construction and repairs, Winnipeg should have been receiving $155 million, based on a per capita share of the PST revenue. Bokhari said she wouldn’t restrict the new infrastructure funding to only roads and bridges, explaining she would include recreational and leisure buildings and projects as eligible infrastructure.

Bokhari agreed to give the municipalities another of their asks: refund the PST municipalities pay on purchases. The federal government already does this for municipalities on the GST. For Manitoba’s municipalities, the PST refund would total $25 million.

The NDP is sticking to its position that municipalities already receive the equivalent of the one percentage point of the PST and the Fair Share, Fair Say initiative would essentially double what they are getting.

Tory Leader Brian Pallister offered municipalities a greater voice in how infrastructure dollars are spent in their communities but would not give them a greater share of the PST.

Goertzen isn’t fazed by the reluctance of the NDP and the Tories to match the Liberals. There’s still time for the other parties to match the Liberals or come up with their own solutions.

‘We’re saying what we have right now is a good start, but what we really need is an additional one per cent of the PST, specifically aligned for infrastructure’– Chris Goertzen, president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities

“We will continue to have discussions with the other parties,” Goertzen said. “If they have a different solution as to how they want to see infrastructure funded and infrastructure dollars increased over time, we’re open to that.”

Mayor Brian Bowman vowed during the 2014 civic election to secure a new funding agreement with the province.

Bowman’s reaction to Bokhari’s announcement was similar to Goertzen’s, and he challenged both the NDP and the Tories to match or better it.

Surprisingly, Bowman was not critical of Pallister’s offer.

“You’re not going to hear me or other mayors or reeves say they don’t want more money, but sadly that’s not a new reality, and I don’t anticipate that’s going to change any time soon.”

Elliot Sims of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said municipalities have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. “Any provincial government that simply promises to give them more revenue without any checks and balances… is really green-lighting municipalities to continue to spend unsustainably.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

Examples offered

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities offered these examples of ideas worth exploring as part of a Fair Share – Fair Say partnership they want to see from the next provincial government:

Exempting or rebating the $25 million municipalities pay to the province through the PST;
Identification of “grow as we grow” sources of revenue;
Ensuring all infrastructure dollars budgeted by the province are fully allocated and spent in each budget year, a move that will benefit smaller municipalities;
Dedicating to municipalities the full 1% of PST to infrastructure that they prioritize;
Reverting the costs of health facilities back to the province or, at least, reducing the municipal requirement to a fixed 5% from the current 10%;
Relieving municipalities of the costs associated with recruiting and retaining doctors;
Lessening reliance on application-based funding and transfers that come with “strings attached” which can be taken away, thus requiring matching funds from local governments, which most won’t have.

The province’s municipal leaders say they are unable to repair the crumbling public infrastructure with revenues generated solely from property taxes and are asking party leaders to commit to providing municipalities with “growth revenues” – possibly a share of the PST revenue (about $300 million) – in addition to the funding municipalities already receive from the province.

In the 2014/15 fiscal year, the provincial government provided all municipalities with a total of $374.5 million – from the Building Manitoba Fund ($313.4 million) and in the form of operating grants ($61.1 million).

Winnipeg’s share of the total provincial funding was $253.6 million; funding to all other municipalities totalled $120.9 million

Examples of how Winnipeg benefits from $253.6 million in provincial funding (2014/15):

$52.1 million – general assistance grants for a variety of infrastructure maintenance.
$50 million – local and regional street renewals.
$46.9 million – Offset Winnipeg Transit costs, including purchase of new buses, share of transit operating costs.$26.5 million – Unconditional funding to offset cost of operating expenses.
$17.2 million – Recreation funding for community centres, parks, playgrounds and leisure/recreation facilities.
$12.1 million – Offset cost of Plessis Underpass.
$11.4 million – Offset cost of Winnipeg Convention Centre.
$18.5 million – Offset cost of policing.
$16.3 million – Offset cost of fire paramedic service
$374.5 million — 2014/15 total provincial funding to all municipalities

Winnipeg’s share of total provincial funding: $253.6 million

Other municipalities’ share of total provincial funding: $120.9 million