Premier Brad Wall says cuts to revenue sharing, urban parks on table when dealing with $1.2B deficit

Premier Brad Wall says towns and cities will be receiving less money this year. However, it's still not clear how much less.

Wall was in Saskatoon Monday morning, speaking to representatives from the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) at its annual convention.

For years, municipal governments have shared a pool of money equivalent to one percentage point of provincial sales tax revenues. Due to a slowing economy, the amount of tax gathered will drop.

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However, it's still not clear whether the tax-sharing formula itself will be changed, something that SUMA delegates have fought hard to maintain.

"We have to let (SUMA) know that revenue sharing is on the table," Wall told reporters. "And grants-in-lieu have to be on the table."

This morning, Wall said the province's deficit is around $1.2 billion. In the last fiscal update in November, the province estimated the deficit was at $1 billion. He maintained his commitment to balance the budget this year.

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"We're not going to procrastinate," he said. "We're not going to do with other jurisdictions are doing and what happened in the past where provinces and the federal government said, 'We'll balance it somewhere down the road.'"

I think we need to be even-handed with all the cities and municipalities.- Premier Brad Wall

Many municipalities have already set their budgets for the year, and will have to revise their spending if the revenue sharing formula changed.

Wall said cuts to remaining funding for urban parks are also on the table. While cities like Moose Jaw, Sask., and Swift Current, Sask., saw their urban parks budgets slashed last year, Saskatoon and Regina still receive money from the province.

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"I think we need to be even-handed with all the cities and municipalities," he said. "We have not made a final decision."

The association also elected a new president on Monday. Delegates elected Saltcoats, Sask., town councillor Gordon Barnhart. He defeated Saskatoon city councillor Darren Hill. 

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The premier and cabinet ministers will appear at SUMA's annual 'bear-pit' session on Wednesday.