Manitoba’s premier announced Feb. 24 that municipal operating grants from the provincial government, which have not gone up since 2016, are increasing this year.
Provincewide, the government will spend $47 million more on the grants, which are distributed to municipalities on a per capita basis, this year than in the past seven years, with the total budget going from $170 million to $217 million.
The 28 per cent jump is, at least in part, a response to inflationary pressures that have been impacting all people and governments over the past year particularly.
“Extraordinary times call for immediate action,” Premier Heather Stefanson said at a press conference in Winnipeg. “These significant increases will flow in the coming weeks and apply to the 2023 municipal fiscal year and to their 2024 base operating budget going forward.”
The funding change will see the City of Thompson receive about $616,000 more this year than it did in 2022, when it got a total of about $1.65 million. In 2023, it will get about $2.27 million, a 37 per cent increase.
The first payment is expected to arrive by March 31, said Thompson city manger Anthony McInnis.
Thompson’s funding increase is comparable with those for Gillam, Churchil and Flin Flon, which will range from 38 to 43 per cent. Other northern communities like The Pas, Lynn Lake, Leaf Rapids and Snow Lake will see their funding increase anywhere from 53 to 69 per cent.
Kam Blight of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, which represents all of the province’s 137 municipalities, said the higher funding was sorely needed after year in which inflation reached a 40-year high of 9.4 per cent in June.
“Municipalities, like all Manitobans, are dealing with unprecedented inflation and supply chain challenges,” he said. “Increasing the operating [fund] basket by 28 per cent will help Manitoba municipalities respond to current financial pressures, offset operating losses incurred during the pandemic and allow municipalities to keep on providing the essential services that all Manitobans depend on.”
