Municipal departments are looking for ways to make up for $125,000 in lost grant money – a result of Flin Flon’s shrinking population.
In previous years the City received funds from four provincial grants – the General Assistance Grant, Municipal Programs Grant, General Support Grant and Rural Transit Operating Grant. These grants have been combined into a single Municipal Operating Grant, which continues to be doled out on a per capita basis. In 2016, Flin Flon received nearly $1.2 million from this grant. In 2017 the funding dropped to below $1.1 million.
Municipalities in Manitoba that saw a population decrease, or a population increase less than the six per cent provincial average saw decreases to their 2017 funding level as a result.
Glenna Daschuk, CAO for the City of Flin Flon spoke to the issue during the Jan. 16 committee of the whole meeting.
“There were two things that impacted us this year, both at the same time,” said Daschuk.
“One is that the province adopted what they call ‘basket funding’ – that’s where they took all of the individual grants we used to receive and put them in one basket, and now we only get one grant instead of, there used to be four grants. The other thing that happened, of course, was we had the decline in population.”
Daschuk said there was a net decrease of 7.8 per cent in grant funding, part of which is a result of the decline in population, and part of which is because the per capita grant amount was reduced.
“They reduced the grant amount by six per cent, which was the average increase by the provincial census … we had a population decline, so we are feeling the pinch twice.”
Daschuk said the amount would need to be made up either through reduced spending or increased taxes.
“I know that increased taxes probably isn’t where everybody wants to go … I know that management is currently working on their budgets right now and they’re looking for places to pull it out, so we’re hoping that’s where it comes from, but that’s getting tighter and tighter all the time.”
Daschuk said she had been informed two of the four grants that make up the basket grant – the General Support Grant and the Rural Transit Operating Grant – will not be increased in the future.
“Those are going to be about the same … so we aren’t going to get the full amount of what we used to get out of it,” she said.
“It’s too bad. It’s the nature of the business these days, I guess, but it makes our job more challenging.”
Daschuk said that City departments are responsible for adjusting their requirements each year. This happens through the budget process, which is required to be complete by May 15.
