Politicians spar over revenue sharing ahead of provincial budget

Debate is underway on the next provincial budget, which is expected in the spring, and how the provincial government will handle revenue sharing with local municipalities.

On Friday, the opposition NDP noted a comment a day earlier, from Saskatchewan Party Premier Brad Wall, raises questions about how the province shares money with municipalities.

In recent years, the government has given rural, urban and northern municipalities a predictable source of revenue. The local governments share a pool of money equivalent to one percentage point of provincial sales tax revenues.

On Thursday Wall noted PST revenue is growing faster than other government revenue streams and he may have to adjust the revenue-sharing formula.

"So in a budget that is very tight, with revenues flat if not decreasing, you know we have to look at all of the options," Wall said. "And that would include looking at the spirit and the principle of sharing own-source revenues with municipalities."

Wall's musings caught the attention of Trent Wotherspoon, the NDP's finance critic, who interpreted his comments as signaling an end to a revenue sharing agreement.

"For the premier to break that agreement and to pull those dollars back and add a big hit to Saskatchewan families by way of a property tax hike is hugely unfair," Wotherspoon said Friday.

Municipalities in Saskatchewan rely heavily on property taxes and have said they need other — reliable — sources of tax revenue to meet their budget needs.