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Sask. municipalities to get $292.7 million under new gas tax agreement

Jun 26, 2014 | 7:47 AM

In a new gas tax agreement, the Government of Saskatchewan will receive $56.3 million from the federal government for municipalities to spend on infrastructure projects in 2014-15.

The 10-year agreement has $292.7 million earmarked for Saskatchewan municipalities over the first five years of the program.

Mayor Michael Fougere said the City of Regina will receive $10.9 million dollars in the first two years of the agreement, 2014-15, with larger amounts expected in the later years.

“We could always use more,” he said Wednesday afternoon.

While he is grateful for receiving almost $11 million, Fougere says his issue continues to be about how the Building Canada Fund will be rolled out.

“For this year in 2014, there's no real transfer from the Build Canada Fund for projects during the construction year this year, so we remain very concerned about that,” he stressed.

The Building Canada Fund is a new, $14-billion federal program that will support projects of national, regional and local significance that supports economic growth, job creation and productivity.

It was hoped more information would be revealed by the construction season and also when the provincial budget was tabled in March but that has not been the case.

Fougere said in the meantime, the new gas tax agreement does give the city a better idea of where infrastructure projects stand in terms of funding.

“While we do have a long-term, predictable source of funding it mitigates the need for a property tax increase. It doesn't resolve the issue but it certainly helps us meet those objectives.”

The renewed gas tax agreement includes new categories for infrastructure funding. Those included regional and local airports, disaster mitigation, broadband connectivity and culture, tourism, sport and recreation infrastructure. In February, Fougere said despite the sport and recreation option, the city would not reallocate funding to the new stadium.

Since the gas tax program was introduced in 2005, Regina has received over $71 million. Some of the projects included $14 million on regional landfills, $11 million in transit to upgrade its fleet and $44 million on roads, bridges, etc.

Overall, Fougere stressed there is a lot more that can be done and he expects to be done through the Building Canada Fund.

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