Municipal revenues, municipal responsibilities and downloading are the top three issues for members of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, heading into the provincial election with voting week beginning next Tuesday and the final day of voting on Monday, October 28th.
SUMA President, Randy Goulden, says they are advocating for municipalities to have opportunities to expand revenue streams, for a change in legislation to improve how bylaws are enforced and rewriting the Police Act to better reflect policing in today’s world, which includes the challenges. She describes downloading as responsibilities that have been downloaded onto municipalities, like dealing with mental health and addictions, which is a provincial responsibility. Goulden says urban municipalities are the ones who see the challenges daily. “Currently the province is very much focused on recovery and we understand that, but there are so many of our residents here in Saskatchewan that aren’t at that place yet, and how do we best help them? We don’t everyone who has some challenges going into the justice system that is already clogged.” She would like all levels of government to collaborate to figure out what resources are needed and then have access to funding to bring those resources in. SUMA’s President notes that RCMP and police services have taken on the primary burden, even though situations often require different skill sets to more effectively address mental health and addictions.
Another challenge for urban municipalities is having the responsibility for over 60 per cent of the public infrastructure, but considering rising costs, there isn’t enough revenue coming in to cover it. Goulden gives the example of her community, Yorkton, which receives about $3.8 million in municipal revenue sharing each year, but now with a large amount of infrastructure work happening, about $2.2 million ends up back with the province because of PST on construction labour. SUMA wants to see future governments increase and create new revenue streams for urban municipalities. Goulden explains that municipalities have very little control over property assessments. She would like the system simplified, with more frequent assessments, and for the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency to be properly funded so it can better meet sector needs.
SUMA would also like to see changes to bylaw enforcement because right now if someone doesn’t pay a fine, it needs to go through Provincial Court, which just bogs up the judicial system even more than it already is. Goulden is advocating for the next provincial government to implement an alternative, streamlined, local system for municipalities to prosecute bylaw infractions, and to provide more funding and training for officers to enforce municipal bylaws.
