While many Alberta municipalities continue to look for money to make big capital projects a reality, the prospect of much additional relief from the province appears slim.
MLA Marie Renaud, speaking to the St. Albert Gazette editorial board Oct. 12, explained the NDP government is doing all it can with very limited resources
“This last year St. Albert received, given the economy, a fair amount,” she said. “There have been a fair amount of projects and a lot of money available.”
She pointed to projects across all government departments as supporting the city in one form or another, not just money from the province for municipal priorities. These include new hospice beds being opened, capital spending at the Sturgeon hospital and money for the North Ridge Lodge expansion.
Renaud said money from the provincial Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) grant program would continue, although couldn’t be specific on how much might be available to St. Albert.
She also referred to the importance of regional collaboration – different municipalities working together to bring projects forward – as being an important option across the board.
The new Municipal Government Act, while expected to be completed and come into effect some time in 2017, will clarify what the province expects from municipalities that are looking for grant funding – something she understood well in her previous role as director of the not-for-profit LoSeCa Foundation in St. Albert.
“I think back to writing grant applications. It’s so much easier when the criteria is clear,” Renaud said. “Here’s what we expect in terms of partnership … whatever that is, it will be laid out.”
She added when it comes to the big-picture capital-spending decisions, the NDP government has brought in “people who are progressive and pragmatic” to look at finances and priorities, which should help take some of the politics out of those decisions.
But the argument that St. Albert or any municipalities really get a fair share of the province’s spending isn’t really the issue, according to Mayor Nolan Crouse. The issue is instead uncertainty around funding and higher levels of government mandating the cities to do things without providing funding to support them.
On the issue of the MSI funding, Crouse said that as recently as last week he and other municipal officials have been unable to get any clear answer on what next year’s funding will look like, and whether the 10-year program will even carry on beyond its finish date of March 31, 2018.
“It’s all a mystery,” he said.
As a result, going into budget deliberations for next year and trying to make long-term capital plans can be a significant challenge. Likely, he said, council would have to budget assuming the grant funding is in line with the roughly $11 million per year the city has received so far under the program.
Another significant concern, Crouse said, is the different kinds of provincial downloading that happen – the provincial or federal governments make policies and proclamations that cities then have to carry out, but don’t necessarily offer the money to make it happen. He emphasized this is not an NDP issue or Liberal issue, but rather one that appears to be the modus operandi of any government in power.
He cited the example of the Capital Region Board, which was mandated by the province, which may have to ask member municipalities to provide money to fund various aspects of its operations.
“Where does that come from? Well, you have to tax your taxpayers more so you can do what the province tells you to do,” he said.
