Kevin Laliberte
Editor, Smoky River Express

Municipalities within the Smoky River region will benefit significantly from a 10-year funding support formula set up as part of the provincial government’s Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI). The funding strategy is expected to result in a net beneft to the Town of McLennan of approximately $3,196,739 from the province over that 10-year period. The positive news comes after McLennan town council reviewed a recent letter from the Government of Alberta regarding the proposed funding breakdown. The funding formula, which is part of a 10-year financial commitment by the province that began this year, covers the 2008 budget year on and provides municipalities with more flexibility in terms of how to spend their portion of the money. It’s based on population, education property tax requisitions, and kilometres of local road and also includes base funding for all municipalities in addition to sustainable investment funding for municipalities with limited local tax bases. “This initiative ensures the continued need for municipal accountability and recognized that if provincial revenues fall, MSI funding levels may have to be adjusted accordingly,” Shelley Ewart-Johnson, deputy minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the Government of Alberta, acknowledges in a Sept. 21st letter to the Town of McLennan. Municipalities will receive base funding of $35,000 in 2008-09 and 2009-10 – a funding allocation which jumps to $120,000 annually starting in 2010-11. Municipalities with a population under 10,000 and limited local assessment bases are also eligible to receive a portion of the province’s sustainable investment funding pool of $15-million, allocated each year to qualifying municipalities. In McLennan, the funding breakdown includes $77,360 in 2007-08. Estimates for funding to the community in 2008-09 are pegged at $173,246 with subsequent projection for 2009-10 and 2010-11 coming in respectively at $189,157 and $393,797. Falher’s portion of the funding pie breaks down to $126,297 in 2007-08, $173,896 in 2008-09, $195,366 in 2009-10 and $445,972 in 2010-11. The municipality’s 10-year total translates to $3,617,364. The Municipal District of Smoky River could receive up to $14,300,759 over that same period based on a funding allocation of $285,445 in 2007-08 and subsequent cash injection of $705,960 in 2008-09, $819,952 in 2009-10, $1,784,200 in 2010-11. Girouxville is expected to get $1,708,600 in total, including $30,532 in 2007-08, $83,035 in 2008-09, $88,467 the following year and $215,366 in 2010-11. Projections in Donnelly are for about the same ($1,763,679) over the 10 years. It breaks down to $36,826 in 2007-08, $85,714 in 2008-09, $91,528 in 2009-10 and $221,373 in 2010-11. The (MSI) is part of a government-based commitment to provide municipalities with sustainable funding to assist them in meeting the challenges of growth and enhancing their long-term sustainability. These objectives are met by providing new conditional grants to municipalities for each of the next 10 years up until 2017/2018. Allocation for all subsequent years beyond 2007-08 are based on municipal populations reported this year. The annual government allocation increases to $500-million in 2008-09, $600-million in 2009-10 and $1.4-billion by 2010-11.

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