WHEREAS there are many RMs with large populations that provide services specific to these populations such as street lights, surfaced streets and roads, high volume traffic, sewer and water, bylaw enforcement, playgrounds, waste disposal and recycling, etc., all of which are not recognized in the Rural Revenue Sharing formula but are a significant real cost of servicing a large population municipality; and  

WHEREAS the current Rural Revenue Sharing formula recognizes the total kilometers of roads within municipalities, but does not provide a factor for traffic volumes, which directly increase road maintenance costs; and  

WHEREAS SARM is the voice of rural Saskatchewan which is comprised of both agricultural and rural residential properties; 

BE IT RESOLVED that SARM negotiate with the Province to amend the Rural Revenue Sharing formula to include a per-capita based formula that better reflects the real costs of servicing a high population municipality, for those RMs that would benefit from this formula, similar to the Urban Revenue Sharing; and 

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that SARM lobby the Province to provide a one-time increase to the Rural Revenue Sharing pool in this “year of transition” such that no RM would be negatively impacted by the lost percentage share as compared to the previous year.

Response from Honourable Bill Hutchinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs:

Changes to the Rural MOG formula will not take effect until the 2010-11 fiscal year.