Medicine Hat City Hall

By Charles Lefebvre

MACKINNON REPORT

MacKinnon Report recommendation could bring changes to municipal funding by province

Sep 4, 2019 | 5:36 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — A recommendation listed in the MacKinnon Report on Alberta’s Finances could change how municipal projects across the province are funded in the future.

The report, released on Tuesday, offers several suggestions on capital spending going forward. Recommendation 15 states the province should “examine its legislative framework for capital funding to municipalities with the goals of aligning funding to provincial goals and priorities and fiscal capacity, while further considering funding formulas that require municipalities to share more in the costs of major projects.”

Dennis Egert, the commissioner of corporate services with the city, says the city is currently studying the report.

“There are some wide-ranging recommendations by the province, I think it’s going to impact almost every Albertan in some way or another, and municipalities are not immune to those recommendations either,” he said.

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The move could impact a city charter agreement between Calgary and Edmonton, as well as the Municipal Sustainability Initiative program, which is currently set to expire in 2021-2022.

Egert says if the recommendations do come into effect, if could change the availability of grants for cities and towns to access for new projects and maintaining current infrastructure.

“We’ve been anticipating a change with our grant program in the province for the last few years,” he said.

Egert adds the city ranks capital projects by need and importance, and early discussions about how to fund the projects are ongoing.

“These assets do need to be maintained on a regular basis,” he said. “We have infrastructure under the ground, we have roads, we have bridges, buildings, we have fleet. Just like a household needs to maintain their house, their automobiles, the city has to do the same.”

The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association says they’re also reviewing the report, and will make announcements in the coming days. The organization has advocated for a new municipal funding framework from the province for cities and towns.

News about municipal funding will be revealed in the fall provincial budget.