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Road Maintenance Agreements and Compensation

Res #: 6-25(A)A
Number: 6
Year: 2025
Midterm: No
Expired: No
Responses Received: Yes
Departments: Saskatchewan Ministry of Government Relations

WHEREAS Section 12(1) of The Municipal Regulations prescribes road haul fees which are not reflective of the actual costs incurred by municipalities to maintain an acceptable level of service for transportation infrastructure.

WHEREAS there is currently no annual review or other mechanism in place for adjusting the legislated road haul fees to account for current costs, including inflation, commodity prices, as well as the actual costs to complete transit infrastructure maintenance and renewal.

BE IT RESOLVED that SARM lobby the provincial government to annually review road haul fees to accurately reflect actual costs of road maintenance, road restoration and loss of road life and that this be better reflected in the compensation formula.

Responses From: Saskatchewan Ministry of Government Relations

April 28, 2025

  • Road maintenance agreements (RMAs) are meant to cover incremental damage caused by heavy hauls to existing rural roads, not for the full cost of maintaining, repairing or upgrading municipal roads.
  • The Ministry of Government Relations (GR) updates regional RMA rates every two years. The regional RMA rates for 2024 and 2025 were updated based on data collected from rural municipalities (RMs) and the Ministry of Highways.
  • GR implemented regional rates to create a consistent and measurable formula to promote transparency. This regional approach eliminates the need for municipalities to provide actual data to defend their rates in appeal and court challenges.
  • Regional rates are determined based on RMs’ reported expenditures for transportation services, road damage caused by truck traffic, annual truck vehicle kilometres and average truck payloads. These rates determine the compensation that municipalities receive under an RMA, along with other factors specific to the RM and the hauler, such as hauling distance, weight of materials being transported and frequency of bulk hauls during the agreed upon period.
  • Municipalities may forgo the regional rates and negotiate separate agreements under subsection 22(1.2) of The Municipalities Act with a different schedule of fees if:
    • The schedule of charges or fees is applied consistently within the municipality.
    • The agreements include provisions regarding dispute resolution.
    • The parties to the agreement will no longer be eligible to apply to the Saskatchewan Municipal Board for a decision on any dispute.
  • In 2025, GR will update the regional RMA rates for 2026 and 2027 based on data collected from RMs and the Ministry of Highways and communicate the changes to municipalities by the end of the year through GR’s publication Municipalities Today.

Hon. Eric Schmalz – Minister of Government Relations, Government of Saskatchewan